Captivating Captivity
by PurelyPoison
Summary: An attack on the burrow leads to the kidnapping of Ginny and Hermione who suddenly find themselves at the mercy of two death eaters they never expected to see. What happens then when a time that is supposed to be filled with fear suddenly becomes filled with the most confusing of all feelings...love, as they find themselves falling for their troubled captors? Graphic Lemons Warning
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Not mine but the great J.K's. **

**Something new I'm trying, let me know what you think. One or two things to note, Dumbledore is not dead and I've just reworked what happened at the end of the sixth book slightly. This takes place during the last book. **

**It will be dark and romantic with plenty of smut etc.**

**Read and review please!**

**PurelyPoison**

**Chapter One**

**Capture**

**"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering" Friedrich Nietzsche**

The attack was unexpected and unimaginable. Why would the Death Eaters attack The Burrow when Harry wasn't even there?

He had been away for three months at this stage hunting for Horcruxes with Ron and through the entire summer Hermione had had not one word from them. She wasn't worried, not yet because she knew how difficult it would be to keep in touch. The decision not to go had not been made lightly but she had known that returning to Hogwarts and being there was important. So, that was where she and the rest of the Weasley family found themselves on this late summer's evening preparing for the return to Hogwarts when the unthinkable happened.

"Do you think it will be weirder now? With Harry gone and the war already started?" said Fred as he folded the last of his things into his trunk.

"Of course it will be but surely we are safest where Dumbledore is?" said Ginny, her voice breaking slightly as she thought about Harry.

"I'm not so sure anymore", said George, "Dumbledore can only do so much and he is getting frail and weak every day. You remember what Harry told us all, about Draco disarming him and Dumbledore didn't even stop him", he finished the last part solemnly as everyone contemplated what could have happened.

"We were lucky that Malfoy saw Harry there and made a run for it before anyone else found them", joined in Hermione sitting on the bed and handing Fred his things.

The four of them had recently taken to staying together, frightened to leave the confines of the group and since they were the only ones left really, it was the natural thing to do.

"I think part of me feels sorry for him", said Ginny suddenly looking up, "For Malfoy I mean".

The three of them turned to stare at her incredulously, "Are you joking?" Fred eventually choked out.

"You heard what Harry told us, about Malfoy telling Dumbledore the pressure Voldemort had put him under, what he would do to him if he failed. He's only seventeen, like us, and he has found himself on the wrong side only because of the family he was born into. That's nobody's fault", said Ginny and for once they all paused to really hear what she was saying to them.

"She's right", said Hermione eventually, "I don't think Malfoy is dead though somehow, I'd say he had enough people to vouch for him; Snape, his father, Bellatrix they would all support him".

"Merlin knows how Voldemort will make him prove his fealty after that" said George solemnly.

Fred sighed before slamming the lid of his trunk closed, breaking the palpable tension, "I think I'm as packed as I'll ever be, let's go downstairs I'm in the mood for some hot chocolate", he smiled tiredly at Hermione.

Hermione couldn't smile back though, she was thinking about Ron and how far away he was from her. It had seemed only natural for them to be together and her feelings for him had indeed grown but the longer he was away the more unsure she was becoming and the more confused her feelings toward him were.

She had wanted to be with him but when she had decided to stay he had made no move to stop her. Part of her had wanted him to fight for her but he hadn't. Instead he had shrugged and merely said, "It's probably for the best".

He had been distant from her in the weeks leading up to their departure, Ginny had reassured her it was just because he was leaving but Hermione had found that hard to believe. Harry had never once left Ginny's side.

"I think hot chocolate sounds great", said George nudging Hermione out of her stupor.

She managed a weak smile before following them out of the room, Ginny linked her arm and gave her a reassuring squeeze. None of them had any idea that that was the last time for a long time the four of them would be together in these circumstances.

It had started suddenly and without warning. Black shapes had filled the sky, swirling and surrounding the house. Hermione had screamed, Ginny had cried out in fear while Fred and George ran to find Mr and Mrs Weasley.

The house was surrounded and they were trapped inside, huddled together in the kitchen.

They could hear Bellatrix screams of laughter and insane triumph, "Come out come out wherever you are", she cackled.

"There are too many of them", whispered Mr Weasley clutching Mrs Weasley to his side, "We can't fight our way out of this".

"What would you have us do then Dad, wait for them to come in and kill us?" said Fred angrily holding Ginny's shoulders.

"No, we have to go out to them", said Mrs Weasley in a surprisingly calm voice, "We will not take this lying down, they do not come to my house and attack my family".

So, the six of them slowly exited the house, wands at the ready.

Hermione wasn't surprised to see so many death eaters and she had to admit that the masks added not only a sense of intimidation but also, she was horrified to find herself thinking, some theatricality.

Bellatrix was standing, unmasked, in front of a line of death eaters clearly the leader of tonight's attack. Her hair billowed madly in the wind and her cloak swirled behind her, giving her a haunting presence and the look of one who is possessed.

Bellatrix cackled, "There will be no need for outright battle", she giggled hysterically and Hermione shivered. She felt Fred stiffen on her left and Ginny tremble on her right.

"What are you talking about?" bellowed Mrs Weasley in clear firm tones as if she were merely listening to a child talking gibberish.

"We have a special purpose from the Dark Lord and are not here to beat you today", Bellatrix began to spin in circles gleefully and Hermione suppressed an urge to hex her right there. That would bring the death eaters down on top of them all at once and she couldn't risk that.

"What special purpose?"

"We are here to claim two people who the Dark Lord believes will be essential in our future plans for young Mr Potter", said Bellatrix.

"We will give nobody to you", said Mrs Weasley moving to stand in front of the group with Mr Weasley at her side.

Hermione felt a surge of love for the two of them.

"We haven't told you who it is yet", Bellatrix smiled madly, baring all of her blackened teeth.

"I don't care who it is, it won't happen. I would rather die than see any of my children in your hands", and then it was Mrs Weasley who threw the first spell and we were hurled into a battle none of us had wanted.

Hermione did her best to dodge spell after spell, throwing as many as she could blindly. Everybody was now locked in battle but it seemed to her as if the death eaters were targeting Ginny and herself, they constantly moved to where they were and spent less time focusing on everyone else.

Hermione narrowly avoided another Stupefy curse and briefly had time to wonder why she had seen no green jets of light coming from any of the death eaters.

"Kids", shouted Mr Weasley as he duelled with Bellatrix, "Get out of here".

"We won't leave you Dad", screamed George as he blocked a hex and sent it flying back towards the death eater who had sent it, he crumpled to the ground in a heap.

The battle seemed to go on for hours in Hermione's mind but it truth it possibly only lasted several minutes.

Then things seemed to happen all at once and all of a sudden.

Hermione saw Ginny being surrounded and she watched as Ginny's arms were pinned behind her back. Assuming an execution was about to take place, Hermione screamed and ran towards her.

Instead of the jet of green light, the death eater who was at this moment wrapped around her whispered into her ear and she watched as surprise filled Ginny's face which upturned towards the death eater behind her.

Hermione paused in her running to allow her own shock to register on her face but before she could do anything else, Ginny went lax in her captors arms and the two of them disapparated.

Hermione screamed in shock, they had taken Ginny?

"Fred", she roared, "They took Ginny", Hermione attempted to run to Fred but several death eaters stood in her way. Emboldened by her fear, she raised her wand in a hand that no longer trembled, "Don't touch me".

Suddnely, arms that came from behind her encircled her waist gripping her tightly and she felt a spell ripple down her head like someone had broken an egg over her. It made her relax and her limbs went loose. Hermione realised briefly why Ginny had relaxed when she had been kidnapped. Was the same thing about to happen to her?

"Apparate now, get her out of here", a gruff voice commanded Hermione's captor, "You know where to take her".

Hermione found her voice, even if she could not quite summon her limbs to struggle she could still argue, "Don't you dare even think about taking me anywhere", her voice sounded soft in her relaxed state but it was clear to hear the steely anger in her voice.

"Please don't struggle, don't make them hurt you", her captor whispered into her ear causing Hermione to turn to him in surprise.

His voice was strangely familiar and not in a particularly comforting way, but it had been soft and gentle as his breath tickled her ear making her protestations catch in her throat.

"HERMIONE" screamed Fred, "NO!"

His anguished voice was the last thing she heard and the last thing she saw was Fred being stunned into oblivion while trying to clamour his way towards her. Then she was being squeezed through a tube and while her breathing faltered, the arms which held her gently were warm and reassuring, strangely enough.

They landed in a stone courtyard, crumpled together in a heap as the effects of apparating drained both of them of energy. She felt his hands gripping her waist as his weight rested on top of her body but as the spell wore off and her energy returned to her, she pushed him roughly away and tried to scramble to her feet.

He moved away from her and she realised that Ginny was lying only a few feet away, flat on her back and they were encircled on all sides by death eaters.

Bellatrix suddenly appeared into the centre of the circle and moved to one side, smiling evilly.

Hermione watched her captor take his place in the circle before scrambling over to Ginny.

"Ginny, can you hear me?" she whispered.

"Where are we?" whispered Ginny, keeping her eyes closed.

"I don't know", Hermione trembled glancing around her, what was going on?

She didn't have much time to wonder before a gap appeared in the circle as the death eaters moved apart and made room for another to join them.

Hermione let a brief gasp fall from her lips before moving to sit in front of Ginny, hoping to protect her friend who seemed weak and her breath was coming in short bursts.

"Voldemort", she whispered more to herself but he still heard her.

"Miss Granger prefers my name, bravery or stupidity?" sneered Voldemort and a few of the death eaters laughed, "Bellatrix what happened?"

"They fought my Lord, stupidly of course", she bowed before him and smiled gently as if talking to a lover, Hermione fought the urge to vomit.

"We managed to stun them as you requested but we had to use to Cruciatus curse once or twice as they struggled", she whispered the last part delightedly.

Hermione shuddered, wondering which of them had been subjected to that kind of torture, her mind wandered briefly to Fred who had tried so hard to protect her.

"We shall not trouble ourselves over insignificant details as these", said Voldemort moving towards Hermione and Ginny's crumpled form.

"This one is hurt?" he turned back to Bellatrix.

"The red-head had to be handled severely my Lord, she was causing problems", came a rough voice from behind the two girls.

"Ah, the brave captor", Voldemort turned to who had spoken, "You were surprised at her defiance? Your stupidity astounds me Blaise".

Hermione gasped and turned in vain to see the face of Blaise Zabini forgetting of course that it was hidden behind a mask.

"She recognises you", said Voldemort smiling at Hermione's expression.

Blaise merely shrugged.

"Where is my other brave captor?" said Voldemort.

"I'm here", came the gentle voice that had reassured Hermione so much in a moment when she should have been dying from panic.

"Yours failed to struggle?"

"I used a relaxation charm on her my Lord", he said putting his head down.

"Your intelligence is clearly not mirrored in your comrade", said Voldemort turning back to Blaise before addressing the rest of the group.

"We have completed the first stage of our plan", said Voldemort triumphantly, "I commend you Bellatrix, my loyal follower, for carrying this out and of course my brave captors", he bowed slowly to each of them in turn, Bellatrix looked as if she might burst with glee.

"These girls will be under the protection and watch of those who captured them", he turned to Blaise, "The red-head is your responsibility, you will ensure she does not escape. Her interrogation will be carried out by you as well as the eventual indoctrination".

Hermione wasn't listening now, her gaze was trained on Ginny who had gone deathly white.

Blaise moved forward to pick Ginny up and Hermione attempted to stop him, "Don't touch her", she cried out, holding Ginny down until she herself was lifted off the ground and ensnared by strange hands.

She struggled as Blaise picked Ginny up and carried her towards the large looming house in the background. Hermione saw him carry her almost lovingly, as if she was a pet he had to look after instead of a person. Why weren't they being cruel? Torturing them? This made no sense.

The arms kept a hold of her as she screamed Ginny's name, tears streaming down her cheeks, but she was held fast.

"I see you are already taking your responsibilities seriously", said Voldemort and Hermione realised that whoever had taken her prisoner was holding her back now.

"I don't deserve to be kept a prisoner", screamed Hermione still attempting to pull away.

Voldemort ignored her, "She is your problem now, don't disappoint me again Draco".

Hermione stopped struggling, "Draco?" she turned back towards the figure whose arms ensnared her now, "Draco Malfoy?"

He removed his mask, while one hand held her waist tightly, allowing his blonde hair to fall into his pale grey eyes. Hermione noticed the dark circles and the extreme pale pallor of his skin as their heads were bent so close together. She felt her throat constrict as she felt his cool breath brush against her tear stained cheeks.

"Hi Granger", he whispered, smiling coldly revealing straight white teeth; "Did you miss me?"

**What did you think? **

**PurelyPoison**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm not best pleased with this chapter even though I know where I am going with the whole story. I hope it isn't too much of a disappointment to you...please review anyway!**

**PurelyPoison**

**Chapter Two**

**Lies**

**A true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything-Friedrich Nietzsche**

_"Hi Granger", he whispered, smiling coldly revealing straight white teeth; "Did you miss me?"_

_"Breathlessly", she replied smiling back._

_His hands encircled her waist, pulling her closer to him so that their hips ground together and his bare chest pressed against her own. She let out a soft moan, a sigh of relief almost that this was finally happening. He trailed feather light kisses along her jaw line, relishing in the slow guttural sounds she was now producing. He pressed his hips harder against hers, moving his hands to cup her bottom tightly, "I want you", he whispered, half-pleading nibbling her ear-lobe with his teeth. She pulled back her head so she could see Ron properly but it wasn't Ron. The stormy grey eyes and the white blonde hair were unmistakable. In that moment, when she realised she was in the wrong hands she waited to scream, shout, anything. Instead, she grinned back, "I want you Draco Malfoy"._

Hermione woke in a cold sweat, sitting up so violently that for a moment between gasping breaths she forgot where she was. But the imposing darkness of the cell suddenly reminded her, she was in Malfoy Manor and she was a prisoner.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed, and stared down at her feet, her chest still heaving trying to bring her breathing back to normal. She gripped her head in her hands, squeezing tighter willing the image of a shirtless Draco pressed against her, to go away. When it didn't, she glanced up wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand willing her mind to come back to the situation at hand.

The only furnishing in her room was a rather small bed that barely protected her from the cold, the sheets were black silk but torn in several places and she presumed must have been the Malfoy's cast-offs. On the wall opposite, two unlit candles had been placed in expensive black holders but without a wand to light them, she had no choice but to remain in darkness.

After Malfoy had dragged her here kicking and screaming and flung her mercilessly on the floor under the watchful eye of Lucius and Naricissa, Hermione had been left to contemplate her fate. She had banged and pounded on the door until her hands were bleeding and her throat was raw but nobody had come or even answered her pleas.

Suddenly she found herself wishing that the dream had lasted longer, even if it had been...disturbing, it had been a welcome change from this frightening cell.

She had no idea where they had put Ginny and the idea that something had happened to her, gnawed at her insides. Hermione bit her lip to stop from crying out, it wasn't going to help her now but if they would only reveal their plan she might be able to bear it better. This suspense was even more terrifying.

She sighed and stretched her legs. She had held off from collapsing into the bed for as long as possible but exhaustion had overruled her. The dream...it had to be down to the exhaustion and trauma. She shook herself and hugged her shoulders, yes-that had to be it.

She had no idea what time it was or if anyone from the Order would even know she was here. Her mind wandered back to Mr Weasley telling Harry they had searched Malfoy Manor twice and come up with nothing; which meant, that these cells had gone unnoticed wherever they were located.

Hermione tried to quell the horrible little voice in her head that said all hope was lost. It couldn't be, this was a magical world and stranger things had happened than being found in a secret dungeon no matter how long it took.

_Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here_.

Hermione had no idea how the phrase from Dante's _Inferno_ had entered her head but she was sure it was very apt considering her circumstances.

Her stomach rumbled loudly and the sound gave her some comfort because it meant she was still surviving, still feeling even in her fear. She walked steadily towards the outline of the door, wishing she could see in the dark, holding her hands out in front of her regardless of the lack of furniture.

There was one square hole that had been roughly cut out in the centre of the door. She supposed they would shove food through it. All Hermione could see when she looked out was a single flaming torch that barely even lit up the dark hallway. She sighed heavily, sliding down the wall and remaining by the door, where the flame was. The light gave her hope, one light in a dark place.

That was when she heard a small cough and a slight shuffle coming from somewhere to her right.

"Ginny?" she asked tentatively leaning forward towards the square hole in the door, "Ginny, is that you?"

Several minutes passed during which Hermione barely breathed, waiting and praying that her friend was close-by.

"Hermione?" she heard finally and exhaled in relief.

"Ginny, are you okay?" she could tell that Ginny had moved possibly to sit at the same square opening in the next cell because suddenly Ginny's voice sounded a lot closer.

"I'm fine, I think. What happened?"

"We're at Malfoy Manor, we were captured", Hermione sighed her shoulders slumping slightly as she said the word..._captured_. It sounded so final.

"We're being kept prisoner?" said Ginny, the incredulity in her voice painstakingly clear.

"I suppose so", said Hermione, leaning back against the wall the little bubble of hope swelling slightly at the sound of Ginny's voice.

"Why?" came the horrified response.

"I don't know", said Hermione, "I just don't know".

Silence for several seconds when only the sound of their breathing was audible.

"What's your cell like?" said Ginny, sounding confused.

Hermione shrugged and then remembered that Ginny couldn't see her, "It's like any cell I suppose, dark and damp with one small, cold bed. What about yours?"

Hermione waited for Ginny to confirm the same surroundings but instead more silence followed her question.

"Ginny?" Hermione wondered had she passed out.

"My cell isn't really a cell. It's got a roaring fire, a large four poster bed, a rug and tapestries on the wall. In fact, it reminds me of Hogwarts".

Hermione's brow furrowed in confusion, why were their cells which were only a few feet apart so different?

"I don't understand that", said Hermione finally trying not to allow feelings of disappointment and jealously to overcome her. After all, Ginny was a prisoner just the same as she was, right?

"I don't either, I'm sorry", Ginny whispered.

Then Hermione felt bad, "It's hardly your fault now is it? Perhaps, you're a more valuable prisoner than I am".

Ginny said nothing because Hermione knew there was nothing she could say, neither of them knew the reason but it managed to separate them all the same. Suddenly, they weren't going through the same experience and perhaps that was just what Voldemort wanted. To ostracise them from each other, to take away any empathy or unity they might have had in being treated equally.

Hermione wondered briefly why he would bother, what could he gain from this.

"Do you think they will feed us?" she eventually asked.

She heard Ginny shuffle, "Erm...I've already got food", she said nervously.

"What?" this time Hermione couldn't contain the anger from her voice.

"I've got some chicken, fruit, cheese and bread. I think there is butterbeer here too", Hermione heard the clink of several bottles.

"You've been given food?" Hermione was envious and in response her stomach growled again.

"Shall I try to throw you some?" Ginny said but before waiting for an answer, Hermione could hear her attempting.

"It won't let me put anything through the square hole. There is like an invisible barrier on it or something".

Hermione didn't need to wonder why, "It's to stop you from doing exactly what you were about to I'm supposed to be starving. They are torturing me and pampering you. They are breaking us up", Hermione said angrily unable to keep the steel out of her voice.

"Don't say that, I don't want any of this", Ginny began to cry.

Hermione felt suddenly guilty for saying what she had, Ginny hadn't asked for any of this either, it wasn't her fault.

"Ginny, please don't cry, I'm okay really. It isn't that bad, at least we can talk", Hermione tried to sound soothing and she heard Ginny sniffle and stop sobbing.

Suddenly before another word could be spoken, a door opened somewhere at the end of the hall to Hermione's right. Light flooded in and lit up the dark hallway as well as Hermione's prison cell. She shot to her feet and heard Ginny do the same.

"Go and get her".

"Are you getting yours?"

"No, I'm not supposed to take her out yet".

Hermione moved quickly away from her door, wondering who the two voices belonged to. She was sure one of them was Malfoy.

She clenched her fists and steeled herself to make a run for it, as soon as he opened the cell door. But her door never opened, instead Ginny's door swung open and she heard her friend's call of surprise which quickly turned to a scream.

"HERMIONE", Ginny's call was one of sheer terror and Hermione found herself rushing back to her own door.

"GINNY, DON'T TELL THEM ANYTHING. WHATEVER YOU DO, SAY NOTHING", Hermione screamed clutching and scraping at the door.

She could hear Ginny struggling and screaming against her captor, "HERMIONE!" the call was still filled with terror and Hermione had never felt so helpless.

Suddenly, she heard the main door swing shut and whatever light had been there was extinguished and Hermione was plunged back into darkness once more.

She didn't realise that she was crying until the hot angry tears were blinding her and she sank to the floor, clutching her knees up to her chin and allowing the despairing, shuddering cries to wrack her body.

"Are you finished yet?" came an impatient voice after what had to have been several minutes.

Hermione started, the cries coming to a halt abruptly and catching in her throat, "Whose there?" she whispered to the darkness.

She heard a soft chuckle, "If you can't tell after seven years then I suppose I haven't made any impression at all", she heard a shuffle outside, "I'd move away now if you don't want to be crushed the doors are quite heavy".

"Malfoy", she whispered disgustingly, the images of her dream flooding back to her.

"Move Granger", he said again this time far more threateningly.

Hermione found her legs moving of their own accord, until she was huddled on the bed as far away from the door as she could get in the confined space.

The door creaked open heavily and a brief flicker of light entered the room only to disappear as quickly as it had come when the door swung shut.

She heard a soft murmur and the candles ensconced in the intricate gothic black holders on the walls light up, basking the room in a soft, warm glow.

Hermione looked at Malfoy through her tear-filled eyes. He was exactly as she remembered him, tall and lean with muscular arms that were visible through the black t-shirt he was wearing. His blonde hair was slightly longer, falling into his stormy grey eyes which were watching her carefully. His cheekbones were very prominent against the pale colour of his skin, she had the impression he had lost a lot of weight very quickly.

"Are you done surveying me?" he asked menacingly.

"What do you want?" it came out a whisper but there was no mistaking Hermione's fury. All thoughts of attempting to escape had fled, something was wrong with this visit. She could feel it. Why had he waited so long so make himself known, instead choosing to listen to her cries? Even then, his wand wasn't raised in her face but lax at his side. There was something missing here, if she was a prisoner why wasn't he treating her like one?

"Where is Ginny?" she asked, ignoring his question.

"She's fine, believe me. Nothing is going to happen to her", he said moving to lean against the wall, twirling his wand in his hand the trademark smirk back upon his face.

Hermione didn't like the way he had said nothing would happen to Ginny, it made her own future seem questionable.

"Why are we here?" she asked tentatively, finding the courage to unfurl her body from its huddled position and moving to sit on the bed properly.

"I'm not here so you can ask me questions", he said his brow furrowing in annoyance.

"Why are you here then? Get on with it", said Hermione moving to stand up.

Malfoy raised his eyebrows at her, "I don't think you're in a position to order me around".

"You haven't killed my spirit yet", she replied folding her arms, suddenly feeling as if they were back at Hogwarts arguing and emboldened by the feeling of familiarity that it brought.

"I'm here for one reason only, _Legilimens", _it happened before Hermione could even set up some defences in her own mind, Malfoy was delving into her thoughts, probing and searching for something.

He saw childhood memories but she could feel him brush them aside as unimportant. He rifled through them like one would files in a filing cabinet, saw her friendship with Harry and Ron, years of torment at his own hands and Hermione saying goodbye to her two best friends when they left her to go to an unknown destination.

Malfoy couldn't find what he was looking for, she didn't know where Harry and Ron were and that was no good to him. She could feel the probing ease and his obvious disappointment at not having found what he was looking for.

As he began to remove himself from her mind, Hermione felt with horror the dream she had had only a few hours before come to the fore of her mind's eye.

She felt Malfoy still as she tried in vain to stop him from seeing something she would've died rather than reveal. She fought against it but he was the one holding all the cards in this fight and he won.

He saw himself shirtless, kissing her and feeling her and her taking it and enjoying it.

He pulled out of her mind, panting and exhausted. Hermione found herself vaguely realising he wasn't that skilled at Legilimency but had taken advantage of her weakened and vulnerable state.

Hermione was on her hands and knees on the floor, sweating profusely and breathing heavily. Her brown hair acted like a curtain on her face and she was glad Malfoy couldn't see the tears of shame spilling thickly onto the floor.

"Well Granger", he said still panting, "That was...interesting".

She didn't answer, what could she possibly say?

"He won't be happy when he finds out that you don't know where they are", Malfoy took a step towards her, until she could see that he was standing in front of her.

Hermione pushed herself off the floor and quickly stood to her feet, squaring her shoulders and looking Malfoy dead in the eye, their noses almost touching.

"Tell me why I am here", she said commandingly.

"I would if I knew", he shrugged, breathing lightly onto her face.

"You don't know?" she was surprised, her eyes narrowed searching for a lie.

"I do as I'm told and I was told to go and get you", said Malfoy still making no move to back away from her.

"What's going to happen to me?" Hermione's shoulders slumped in defeat.

Malfoy raised his hand as if to brush the hair from her face but then, as if, realising what he was about to do his arm stopped mid-air and he took a quick gasping breath finally taking a step back averting his eyes and staring at the floor.

"I guess, you'll find out soon enough but all I know is that it won't be good", Malfoy stared at her again and for the first time he looked solemn.

He opened the door, allowing the light to flood in once more, "I'll leave the candles lit for you, no need for you to be in utter darkness".

Hermione said nothing, still standing where he had left her.

"Oh and Granger, about that dream", he turned back to her.

Hermione looked up the confusion and shame etched on her face.

"I don't do dreams like that. I'm the stuff nightmares are made of, I'm the bad guy remember", he moved quickly out of the door which swung shut behind him and left her alone with her thoughts and the overwhelming feeling of emptiness.

"She is breaking?" Voldemort sat in the large winged back, leather armchair surveying Draco through his locked fingertips.

"I think she will, my Lord. The resolve won't last I can see that myself", Draco shuffled, still uncomfortable from having Voldemort sift through his thoughts about her.

"Very good Draco, the next time you visit her I want you to gain her trust further".

"My Lord?"

"It seems we won't need to try very hard, the poor mudblood is already fantasising about you. We can make light work of this".

"Yes my Lord, and what of the other girl?"

"Blaise is working on her, she will be harder to crack but we don't want to kill her. She will make a valuable asset to our side and I have no doubt she will be one of us in a matter of months".

Draco didn't move, he was rather unsure of what to do next. He still had no idea of the Dark Lord's plan and he still wasn't sure if he wanted to be part of it. All he did know was that she had dreamt about him and he had liked it.

He shuddered in disgust.

"Something troubling you Draco?" said Voldemort watching him carefully.

"Nothing my Lord, I just don't relish allowing a mudblood to fall in love with me", he said raising his eyes to meet his masters.

"I understand my dear boy, but if we are to break Harry Potter once and for all we must first break two things he cares most about. Two things he left behind".

Draco nodded, "I understand".

Draco turned to leave, "One more thing Draco", Voldemort hissed behind him.

"Yes?"

"You must keep your emotions in check, if I find you are falling for this...thing...then you will be beyond saving. I understand the tumultuous emotions that you are feeling since your failure to complete the task I appointed you. Do not fail me a second time", Voldemort was staring at him so intensely, Draco felt sure he could see his very soul, his completely intact, precious soul.

"I understand, it will not happen", Draco turned and walked away keeping his back straight and his fists clenched knowing that while he wouldn't consider falling in love with that mudblood, he had already lied.

His emotions were running riot and the image of her pressed against his chest in her dream was burned on his memory.

**Review!**

**PurelyPoison**


	3. Chapter 3

**Review and enjoy please and thank you!**

**PurelyPoison**

**Chapter Three-Seduction**

**Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you-**

**Friedrich Nietzsche**

"How are things progressing then Draco?" said Bellatrix hissing through her teeth at him.

It had been two weeks since he and Blaise had taken Hermione and Ginny hostage. Two weeks in which Ginny had come on leaps and bounds while Hermione had remained in one corner of her cell refusing even to look or talk to Draco.

"She remains as impassive as always", he replied.

"She still will not speak to you", said Narcissa worriedly glancing at her husband.

"Not a word", replied Draco shifting in the leather chair which he was draped over.

The four of them were sitting in the drawing room sitting in a circle clutching glasses of Firewhiskey. The fire crackled merrily but other than that there was nothing to ease the tension that sat between them.

"Well then make her talk", said Lucius.

"I'm not allowed to, I have to gain her trust and I can't do that if I torture her", said Draco tired of having to explain this fact to this father.

"Blaise seems to be managing", his father replied narrowing his eyes at his son.

Draco shrugged in response, "Perhaps he is better at flirting than I am".

In truth, Draco had been in her cell every day but it wasn't just Hermione who wouldn't speak, Draco couldn't bring himself to try to get her to talk. The thought of touching her and getting her to trust him repulsed him slightly. It was too fake for him, he needed her to see him as vulnerable and he just wasn't prepared to show his emotions to her and leave himself open to her derision.

As if on cue, they heard the unmistakable squeal of laughter from the library next door.

"Are you sure he isn't using the Imperius curse on her?" said Narcissa to Draco.

"I'm sure, I asked him how he was doing it and all he would tell me was that she was only happy to be indulged. Potter obviously wasn't giving her enough attention", Draco sneered.

"Or the girl was just waiting to be coerced", said Bellatrix, "I can't say I'm happy about it but at least she is pureblood. I still don't understand what we are doing with the other thing".

Draco rubbed his hands through his hair, "I've already told you, Voldemort is using her to break Harry. He wants me to gain her trust, to let her fall in love with me, so that when the time comes Harry will see that he has lost two girls he loved the most to our side. One will be a lovely new death eater; the other will be hopelessly in love with someone he hates before we kill her in front of his eyes".

"We won't be keeping her then", said Narcissa still addressing Draco.

"Don't be stupid Cissy, what would the Dark Lord want with a muggle-born?" said Bellatrix stroking her mark lovingly.

"I don't understand then why Draco would go to all the trouble of allowing this...girl to fall in love with him?" said Narcissa her brow furrowing.

"He's testing me. He wants to see do I come to care for her and even if I do can I still kill her when the time comes. It's all about loyalty", said Draco sighing before pushing himself out of his chair, "speaking of which I better go back down there".

He was dreading seeing her again, yesterday she had sat huddled on the bed with silent tears streaming down her face. He hadn't asked why she was crying, instead he had fought the urge to go to her and sit beside her, perhaps offer some comfort but he couldn't.

But today he had a new tack to get her to talk to him, it was...unsavoury in his eyes but if it worked the Dark Lord would see it the next time he rifled through his thoughts.

It meant allowing her to see a side of him that he had kept hidden in the recesses of his mind, it meant convincing Voldemort none of it was true when it all was. But if it worked, then he was on the right track.

He had expected her to be in the same position on the bed, crouched and huddled away from him but it seemed she had awakened somehow. As if, something inside her had come alive.

As soon as the door swung back on it's hinges, he saw her standing in front of him defiantly, her arms hanging loosely by her side.

He started, "Bloody hell Granger", he leaned against the door frame.

"Where is Ginny?" she said sounding stronger than she felt Draco was sure.

"You haven't heard from her then, that's a pity. I was sure she would keep in touch", said Draco moving into the cell and closing the door behind him.

He had kept the candles burning every since his first visit. An empty plate and bowl sat on the floor by the bed and he was glad to see she was finally finishing the meals he had brought her since he had been liberal with the portion sizes.

"That isn't funny, for all I know you could be hurting her", said Hermione turning to him.

"We certainly aren't", sniggered Draco, "Believe me she is quite happy where she is".

Hermione didn't move, uncertainty clouding her vision, hardly daring to believe what he was telling her.

Draco folded his arms, "You're talking to me again then?"

She shrugged, "I want to know what's happening to her".

"Nothing", he replied.

"Then why haven't I seen her?"

"Because she was moved to more comfortable accommodation with a companion", Draco smiled but it didn't reach his eyes, "I don't want to talk about the red-head".

"I'm not talking about anything else", she said getting angry now.

"You don't have a choice", he replied pulling his wand out to twirl in his fingers, a sudden impulse but it had the desired effect, she stilled.

"Don't hurt me", she trembled and something inside him softened.

"Don't make me", he replied.

They stood still staring at each other for a long time.

She moved towards him slowly extending her arms out before they touched his chest, "You won't hurt me".

Draco said nothing, he had gone completely still. Her face was so close to his, he could taste her scent on his tongue. The faint tingling of lavender teased his nostrils.

Her hair brushed against his chin and he felt his eyes flutter shut. She was too close, he should be hexing her into oblivion but he couldn't do anything. His arms weren't listening to him and his heart was hammering against his chest.

"Your heart is beating so fast", she whispered huskily, keeping her hands pressed lightly on his chest.

"You're not helping", the words were out before he could think and he immediately regretted it.

He felt her tense but after several seconds her hands began to drift lower, sliding down his chest. One arm moved to cup his bicep which was flexed under her touch. Draco was too busy focusing on the hand now moving across his abdomen to realise that Hermione's other hand, resting on his left arm was also moving downwards.

She had grabbed the wand and moved back from him before he had time to draw breath.

_Fool_, his mind howled, _she tricked you and it is supposed to be the other way around_.

Her hand shook slightly as she held it in front of her but her face had a look of steely determination.

"Don't be a fool Granger, what are you going to do? Attack me and then go and fight a house full of Voldemort and Death eaters on your own?" said Draco trying to dispel the memories of Hermione's hands.

Her hand trembled some more, "I don't want to attack you, I want to know what's going on".

Draco laughed slightly, "Oh really, well I didn't think of you as the torturing type", he sneered at her.

"I never said anything about torture _Legilimens"_ and in one second she had done the same thing to him that he had done to her, broken his defences.

But what she found was not what she expected to see. She saw herself smiling and more beautiful than she had ever thought herself, Draco's mind was affording her everything.

She saw herself step off the train at Hogwarts for the first time, saw her laughing in the Great Hall with Harry and Ron, saw her raising her hand eagerly in class even saw her reading silently in the library.

Draco had stored years of memories and they were all of her when she was happy.

She couldn't find anything she was looking for, this had caught her completely off guard and she felt Draco's mind pushing her out forcefully.

She dropped his wand so that it lay between them, panting badly and realising that he was doing the same.

"What was that?" she whispered.

"Nothing", he replied quickly, "Ignore it".

"I can't", she said.

"WELL TRY" and before she could say anything else he snatched the wand and moved out of the cell.

He ran upstairs away from the dungeons, away from her presence and stood leaning against the wall in the Foyer breathing heavily.

He had known she would do it, known she would look through his mind so he had filled his head with all the images of her that she possessed.

It had been his plan all along, show her his vulnerability. He snorted, if he had any that was. Luckily he seemed to have more images of her in his head than he had supposed. Enough to frighten her into backing away at least but seeing those images of her in his head had made him falter.

He hadn't expected for her to be so appealing in his memory or indeed, when she had touched him for feelings deep in his gut to stir and not only his gut had been affected. He was glad she had failed to notice the bulge in his pants.

He slid to the floor, resting his elbows on his knees.

This couldn't happen, he couldn't allow his emotions to get the better of him. He had prepared himself to show her all of those memories but he had no idea how much he had enjoyed seeing them.

He would have to be more careful.

The library door swung open and Blaise came out holding Ginny's hand and leading her towards the dungeon entrance.

Ginny saw Draco sitting on the floor and her eyes widened slightly, Blaise moved in front of her blocking her views.

"Don't pay attention to him, I will collect you tomorrow. It's only for a little while", said Blaise and Draco watched in astonishment as Ginny nodded solemnly.

Blaise led her towards the dungeon door and they both disappeared. Several minutes later Blaise came back up and took a seat on the floor next to Draco.

"Well Draco boy, how is it going for you?" Blaise was grinning.

"Not great but I can see your doing well", said Draco motioning his head towards the door.

"She isn't hard to crack but certain things put her off, like seeing you makes her remember why she is here. She thinks she knows why anyway. I'm hoping spending a night down there with Hermione won't make her lapse too much", he said shrugging.

"It might make Hermione see there is no hope as well", replied Draco hoping Ginny might do some of his work for him.

"Why is she not breaking at all?"

"She barely speaks to me, I had an idea there but it seems to have backfired", said Draco lowering his head, his face contorted in annoyance.

"What was that?" said Blaise.

Draco looked up and eyed his friend wondering how much he could possibly admit to him before deciding that nothing was probably best.

"She was just as unresponsive", shrugged Draco, "I'm running out of ideas".

"Maybe it's time to up the ante? Kiss her or something", said Blaise, "I'm getting close to that with the red-head".

"I doubt she will let me get that close", said Draco but even as he said it, he knew it wasn't quite true.

Of course she would let him kiss her; he had felt her body relax when she stood in front of him, her hips almost brushing his. He knew that her hands had lingered longer on his chest than she had meant them to and the fingers that had caressed his arm as they went to his wand has hesitated slightly on their descent.

He could kiss her alright and she would let him.

The problem wasn't that, the problem was that if he started kissing her he wouldn't be able to stop at kissing.

He would have to take her until he had all of her and under his breath Draco groaned because having to wait till tomorrow to do it, was already too long.

**Hope you enjoyed it, I know these filler chapters aren't great but you can expect things to kick off slightly in the next few chapters, things just have to lead there first.**

**PurelyPoison**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well another chapter here. I think this story will only be about ten to fifteen chapters long. I'm thinking about a humorous, light hearted fic with my two favourite characters being head boy and girl? It's still a work in progress idea though. **

**Anyway, review please and don't despair too much about Ginny, it isn't her fault I've made her weaker. **

**Also if you don't know what Stockholm syndrome is, it occurs when the victim begins to feel sympathy and empathy for their attacker. Look it up, it's extremely interesting.**

**PurelyPoison**

**Chapter Four-Manipulation**

**The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently-Friedrich Nietzsche**

Hermione heard the door along the corridor open and shut, heard the sound of feet passing near her door and her heart filled with anticipation and a longing she didn't quite understand. Perhaps Draco was coming back? To punish her for what she had done? No, he would have done that already surely when he had finally picked his wand up from the floor.

Maybe he was coming back to finish what had started between them. She knew her hands had hesitated on his lean, muscular body and she had enjoyed it but she also knew that he had enjoyed it too.

Far too much in fact, it had been all too easy. His memories of her had thrown her completely; she had never imagined he could have thought of her like that. Even now, she was still breathless with shock and a quiet fluttering that she had never quite felt before.

And now, much to her chagrin, she was standing with her hands against the door trying in vain to see if it was him coming down the corridor- to see if he was coming back to her.

But it wasn't, it was Blaise and...

"Ginny?" she whispered quietly.

There was no answer at first, just the soft sound of people whispering and Ginny's cell door swinging shut coupled with the sound of receding footsteps.

Finally, after what seemed like four years in Hermione's head she heard the tentative whisper of her best friend.

"Yes, I'm here".

"Are you alright? I haven't seen you for weeks?"

"Has it been that long? I never would have thought", said Ginny in a sift voice of astonishment.

Hermione dropped her hands from the door and stepped back as if it had burnt her. What was wrong with Ginny? How could two long weeks feel like nothing to her?

"What did they do to you?" whispered Hermione, still not moving back towards the door.

"Nothing much", said Ginny nonchalantly.

"What do you mean nothing much? They are keeping us prisoner."

"Well actually, Blaise was telling me", began Ginny before Hermione interrupted her.

"You're on first name terms with the guy who took you hostage?" Hermione was half spluttering her words now.

"Well, I've spent two weeks with him", said Ginny indignantly, "Anyway, he was saying he was under orders and he doesn't know why he had to do it but he didn't have a choice".

Hermione said nothing, very tempted to huff in annoyance but she decided it was better to let Ginny speak.

"So, he's been opening up to me and he is actually very vulnerable, it's so sad Hermione", she whispered the last few words and Hermione felt the weight of them.

"I find it hard to feel sorry for a death eater", said Hermione folding her arms, hardly believing that she was scolding Ginny for feeling sympathy.

"But it isn't like that; none of them had a choice really. Including him and Draco", she said forcefully.

"Don't speak about them as if they are people I should feel sorry for", said Hermione, "What about Harry and your family and the rest of the Order? Or have you forgotten about them on your quest for empathy?" Hermione was angry now and she couldn't help but spit out the words.

Ginny was talking nonsense and a tiny voice niggled at the back of Hermione's head, willing her to see that Ginny was being brainwashed or going through a case of Stockholm syndrome. Either way, it was beginning to get worse and worse.

"Harry?" Ginny faltered as if remembering somebody who has been dead for a very long time.

"Yes, the boy that you supposedly love?" said Hermione.

Ginny said nothing and for a long time that seemed to mark an end to the conversation.

Hermione moved to sit beneath the candles, the light gave her comfort but her fear of what was happening to Ginny only increased the longer her friend was silent.

What were they doing? Were they torturing her into submission? No, Blaise certainly wasn't doing that. It seemed as if he was...pretending to be the victim so that maybe Ginny would feel sorry for him. But then maybe, he wasn't pretending? Maybe, he and Draco really were the injured party?

But then did that mean Draco was playing her for a fool? Surely not, Draco was being genuine. Nobody could have stored up all those memories of her and have it mean nothing. But perhaps, that meant she was being brainwasher herself?

Hermione laid her head into her hands, it was all so confusing. She shouldn't be feeling these things for Draco, not for a death eater. But then she remembered everything that had happened through their sixth year, seeing how tortured Draco had been over the task Voldemort had given him and his inability to carry it out.

That couldn't be fake.

It just couldn't be.

"Hermione?" said Ginny finally.

"What?" Hermione was in no mood to talk, her mind was racing as well as her imagination and it was taking her to rather unwelcome places that involved Draco.

"I haven't forgotten about Harry, I'm sorry for what I said it's just...well...he's talking to me and treating me like a human being, no torture or anything. He hasn't even once asked me where Harry is and it's confusing and..." Ginny sobbed.

"Don't cry", said Hermione sighing lowly, "There's no need, I understand. But before we go into it, tell me, what have you been doing up there?"

"Blaise is teaching me Occlumency, so I can close my mind if the Dark Lord tries to probe through it and he has been showing me useful duelling spells. It's been very educational", Ginny sounded almost happy.

"Say that again?" said Hermione, her heart faltering.

"Say what again? All of it?" said Ginny.

"What did you call Voldemort?"

"I said, You-Know-Who, honestly Hermione I don't know what's gotten into you", said Ginny her light laugh faltering slightly.

"No you didn't", Hermione whispered.

"I did".

"STOP LYING", Hermione screamed, "You said the Dark Lord".

"Did I? Slip of the tongue, nothing more. A complete accident", said Ginny.

"It can't be a slip of the tongue because we have never called him that. Only his followers call him that. What has he done to you?" Hermione felt the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"He hasn't done anything to me", shouted Ginny, her voice getting louder and louder.

"He has, can't you see it. You're falling for him and you don't even know it", Hermione was on her feet again, screaming at her willing her to understand.

"He is looking after me", said Ginny equally shouting.

"No, this is nothing more than a sick game to get you to say these things. To get you on their side", screamed Hermione.

"At least I'll have a life, which is more than you will if you keep fighting them", Ginny screamed back.

Hermione paused, "What?"

"Blaise told me what the plan is for you", said Ginny still shouting.

"Oh yes and what is that?" said Hermione furiously.

"Draco is trying to help you, to stop them from killing you. To make them see that you are valuable that's why you're still alive. So you better start acting like you're on their side", said Ginny.

"But you're not acting like you're on their side, you actually are", said Hermione quietly, "And if you think that they are going to keep me alive just because Draco says so then you are the stupidest person I've ever met".

"Don't say that".

"You can't see it", screamed Hermione.

"BLAISE" screamed Ginny suddenly making Hermione jump and run back to the door.

"STOP CALLING FOR HIM", screamed Hermione.

"BLAISE", she screamed again.

"DON'T SAY HIS NAME AGAIN", Hermione roared but it was too late. The far door swung open and once again the corridor was filled with light.

"I'm coming darling", shouted Blaise.

Darling? Did he just call her that?

"Come and get me", Ginny was sobbing loudly now.

Hermione heard Blaise swear and Ginny's door swung open again.

Hermione could hear her throw herself into Blaise's arms and her muffled sobs as she buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"Hermione was saying...she was saying", said Ginny struggling to get the words out.

"Sh", said Blaise, "I told you I would come down and get you if you called for me and here I am. You have no reason to be scared. Now, be good and go to the door and wait for me. I'll take you away from here but I just want to check something okay?"

"Alright", sobbed Ginny.

Hermione felt sick to her stomach, this was indeed her worst nightmare.

Suddenly, Blaise's face was pressed against the opening on Hermione's door and she screamed, shoving herself backwards and managing to fall to the floor.

"You listen to me, you filthy mudblood. You won't be seeing any more of Ginny if you don't behave yourself around her. I don't want to hear you filling her head with your rotten garbage. It isn't my fault, Draco is useless with you and I won't have you undoing my hard work".

"You're the one filling her head with rubbish, she will never be one of you fully no matter what you might say to her", said Hermione still finding the spirit to fight back.

"Now Granger, I'd stop that attitude now if I were you or it's going to get you into even more trouble than you already are", said Blaise visibly seething at her.

"Then why am I here, what are you doing with me?" screamed Hermione, the tears back in full force and her voice breaking as she herself broke down.

"Draco hasn't told you?" he sounded incredibly surprised but it his shocked expression changed to a smirk in a second, "let's just say the spare part in this story is you".

Then he was gone, half running down the corridor into the arms of Ginny and the door shut again leaving Hermione alone in the darkness, the heaving sobs now wracking her body until she ached.

She didn't get much time to rest or even catch her breath until the door swung open again and more hurried footsteps were heard.

Her cell door burst open and Draco stood before her, breathing heavily in the doorway. She fought and scorned the impulse to run and be enveloped in his arms but instead, she stood to her feet and clenched her fists, not wanting him to see her so weak.

"What did he say to you?" demanded Draco walking swiftly towards her.

"What?" Hermione whispered back.

"What did he tell you?" he said more forcefully this time grabbing her shoulders and shaking her roughly.

"He said I was a spare part", she said screaming at him now, "You're going to kill me", she was struggling out of his grasp, trying and failing to get away from him.

She couldn't stand seeing his face so close to hers, his eyes burning right through to her soul.

Draco said nothing, seemingly satisfied with her answer; he stopped gripping her shoulders so roughly but kept them in place.

He seemed to have drifted very far away from her; his eyes were glazed no longer really seeing her but past her, towards a future that had seemed so certain only a few months ago.

"I don't want to die", she whispered and suddenly his eyes were back on hers again as if her words had made him realise where he was.

"You won't die, I won't let them", he said softly.

"You're saying that to play with me, it isn't fair. You're saying that to make me become whatever it is Ginny is now", said Hermione struggling against his grip once more.

"I wish that were true", he said huskily before slamming his mouth onto hers and pulling her forcefully to him.

His fingers were digging into her shoulders so much that it hurt, Hermione's eyes remained open in shock and her mouth wouldn't react immediately.

Instead, they stood there with his lips pressed firmly against her own while her own hands were clenched in fists against his chest.

She didn't move and eventually he pulled away. Her lips remained parted and she found herself panting lightly. His eyes were staring into hers equally shocked and-did she see arousal?

Yes, she didn't need to see it. It was already there, pressed against her. She blushed realising how their hips were pressed together, tightly.

"You wish what were true?" she eventually managed to utter, licking her lips.

Draco caught the groan before it left his throat, "I wish it were me playing you and not the other way around. Don't you see what's happening here?" he said roughly.

"I don't know", she whispered back, her head tilting up towards his again.

He said nothing and instead, leaned down lightly brushing his lips against hers. It had lost all of the rough and ready passion but instead a sort of sentimentality had overcome him.

His lips were so soft and tender against her own that this time instead of feeling shock and horror, her lips parted and his tongue slipped into her mouth.

She moaned lightly and she felt his hips press against her harder than before.

He groaned and she began to kiss him frantically, desperately seeking something but she had no idea what. Her hands found their way to his hair and his locked around her waist, pulling her to him hungrily.

Nothing would have made them stop as they stumbled their way over to the bed, a bomb would have had to go off to prise them apart.

But that is precisely what happened.

Something exploded above their heads and Hermione wrenched her lips from Draco's, but kept her arms locked tightly around him.

"It's happened", she said responding to the screams and shouts now emanating from the floor above and glancing upwards.

"What?" he said looking down at her, watching her expression which had been clouded by list moments before but was now fully alert.

"The Order is here".

**Review please!**

**PurelyPoison**


	5. Chapter 5

**Review and Enjoy!**

**I personally quite like this chapter, hope you all do to!**

**PurelyPoison**

**Chapter Five-Escape**

**There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness-Friedrich Nietzsche**

Draco and Hermione stood there clutching each other for several more minutes; even with the screams that were now reaching a frighteningly high noise level above them, they never moved. It was as if time had stopped for them, their eyes were locked together and didn't once waver.

They knew they had been about to...about to...neither of them could even think the word never mind say it. It would mean to actually contemplate what they had been so willing to do and knowing that nothing would have stopped them; except this of course.

Then Draco tried to move away and the spell was broken, he unlocked his arms from her waist and began to detach himself. Hermione didn't move and instead pulled his head back towards hers, making him look at her again.

"Come with me", she whispered softly.

The words reverberated around the room as Draco watched her closely, his eyes getting wider with each passing second. She had expected him to argue, to deny that he needed help especially hers but instead he merely said.

"Do you mean it?" his eyes probed hers, searching for sincerity and any hint of mockery. This was not the time to be led into a trap.

"Of course I do, we can help", she avoided saying the word 'I', instead substituting 'we' because it was far more ambiguous.

"I can't, they would kill me", he whispered finally removing himself completely from her grasp and as he moved to the other side of the cell, Hermione felt empty at the loss of the physical contact.

"I can bring you to Dumbledore, please. Let me help you", she was pleading now, she could hear it in her voice but at this moment she didn't care. He needed her help whether he wanted to see it or not, he just wasn't one of them.

Hermione wouldn't believe it.

"Things don't work like that", suddenly he was furious but Hermione knew it wasn't directed at her. It seemed as if everything Draco had kept to himself over the last two years came bubbling to the surface and she finally saw how he viewed the world and it frightened her.

"You think that life is some sort of fucking fairytale? That we're all just playing a game where the good guys always come out on top? Well Granger, I've been living this shitty existence for some time now and let me tell you that dreams don't come true", his fists were balled by his sides as he willed her to understand that his life was so different to hers.

"Sometimes I think about just packing it all in, spitting life in the face and saying 'fuck you I can do what I like'. Because it would mean ending this shitty life on my terms, the way I want it to end", he was moving quickly towards the door and Hermione wanted to stop him but she didn't know where to begin.

"That's why I can't come with you, there is nothing about this story where I survive and become a better person. I'm a death eater and I have to die at the end of this, that's the way it goes. I am always destined to lose everything and gain nothing; the story has to have an ending and it has to end badly for me", his hand was on the cell door now and he pulled it sharply open amplifying the sounds of battle that had been momentarily forgotten about.

Hermione found her voice right before he walked through the door, "It doesn't have to be like that", she half-shouted it just to make sure the words really sunk in.

He turned and raised his eyebrows, "Did you hear anything I just said?"

"No, listen to me", she moved towards him by a mere step or two but no further feeling that he needed the distance, "It's the little things that make this life worth sticking around for. Like...oh I don't know...friendship or love", she hesitated on the last word but he scoffed.

"Give me a break Granger", he shouted turning to go.

"No, wait", she screamed, "Fuck, I'm not saying it right just give me a second", she paused and he stared at her incredulously, hardly believing that she was taking her time in the middle of a battle.

"It's like, like reading a terrible book and you have to know how it ends. You have to know what's going to happen, you have to know how the story ends and you can't just pack it in because that's called giving up. The story has to end you're right but that doesn't mean you can't change the ending, it's your story for fuck's sake and that is not nothing, that is something. And that something means the difference between your shitty existence and mine", her words had the effect she had been hoping for but they didn't have the desired outcome.

"You're right, so let me go right back to my shitty existence and you go back to yours. Besides, this isn't some fucking Romeo and Juliet love story is it? This is real life and it's a bitch", he stormed out of the cell door, slamming it behind him and locking it.

Hermione ran over and laid her hands against the solid wood ready to shout his name but instead she heard voices in the corridor.

"What are you doing?" Draco sounded anxious.

"I'm putting her back, can't have her up there. They might find her", Blaise's voice was unmistakable.

"GINNY" Hermione screamed.

"Shut that bitch up", said Blaise.

"Call her that again and it's you I'll be shutting up", replied Draco through clenched teeth.

Hermione heard the cell next to her slam shut and Ginny's whimpered, "Don't leave me here".

"Don't worry, you'll be alright", said Blaise, "Come on Draco".

Their receding footsteps moved quickly and Hermione heard the corridor door shut, muffling the noises from above.

"Why is it taking them so long to find us?" said Hermione aloud not bothering to wonder if Ginny will answer.

Several minutes passed during which Hermione would hear another explosion or scream and her heart started hammering loudly in her chest. Draco's words had frightened her, was this existence really that shitty? No, otherwise everybody would just 'pack it in' as he had said. There had to be something worth staying around for, there had to be and for the first time Hermione felt that she knew what it was.

Did he know it to though?

Eventually Ginny cleared her throat, "The Order had the element of surprise but they're outnumbered. I don't think they will even manage to look for us", Ginny sounded almost gleeful and the sound frightened Hermione.

"They might", said Hermione trying to keep the hope in her voice, for her own sanity.

"I doubt it", snorted Ginny.

"Shut up", said Hermione not even wanting to hear Ginny's voice anymore, the sound of it made her think of them; the death eaters. The idea made her blood run cold, Ginny really was disappearing.

Ginny was wrong though and Hermione had never felt so thankful when she heard the far corridor door open and the unmistakable clunk of Mad Eye Moody's leg.

"MOODY", Hermione screamed, "DOWN HERE".

"Miss Granger?" he grunted back.

"Yes, please hurry", she could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks from sheer relief.

The noise of his clunking leg coming down the corridor seemed to take days to reach her cell and during his entire journey Ginny said nothing.

"Move away from the door Miss Granger", he said.

Hermione did as she was bid and in a quick blast the door was flat on the ground between them.

She launched herself into Mad Eye's arms, not even stopping to think of how odd it was.

"Oh thank you", she was still crying.

He pulled her, not unkindly, from him "No time for sentimentalities, come on".

"We have to get Ginny", she said moving past him.

"Where is she?"

"Right here", said Hermione pounding on the cell door, "Get away from the door".

"I'm not coming with you", Ginny's clear voice sounded from inside but it was hard to hear given the blasts that were going on above.

"What did she say?" said Moody his eyebrows raising inside his mangled face.

"Nothing, she's delirious", said Hermione waving her hand urging him to dismiss what he had heard, "Blast open the door".

"Miss Weasley, move now", but Moody didn't wait to hear if she had done so, instead he blasted the door anyway. Hermione briefly considered how his act now think later attitude could have gotten her killed had she been a few seconds late in moving away from the door.

Ginny was huddled against the four poster bed and Hermione vaguely noticed the opulent surroundings before running and taking hold of her arm.

"Come on Ginny", she screamed trying and failing to haul Ginny to her feet.

"I'm not going", she screeched back into Hermione's face, "I said I would wait for him".

"No, you stupid twit you have to come with me", roared Hermione, furious now at being made to argue over this.

"Why doesn't she want to come?" said Moody.

"She's having a bad day", shouted Hermione turning to him, "I'll tell you later".

Suddenly a burst of red light came flying down the corridor but Moody easily deflected it, "We have to get out of here", he roared into the cell.

"Go, I'll follow", Hermione screamed, "I can't leave her".

"Miss Granger", said Moody.

"Not now Mad Eye, just go I promise we're right behind you", she continued tugging Ginny.

Mad Eye went clunking back up the corridor "On your own head be it", he roared, battling whoever it was that had tried to stun him.

"Ginny, please I'm begging you", said Hermione turning back to her friend the tears now streaming thick and fast, "This is our chance to get out of here", she pleaded.

"I won't leave him", said Ginny serenely, her tranquil face annoyed Hermione further.

"He's a death eater, he doesn't love you", said Hermione, "I know that's hard to hear because you've been...vulnerable and he's been there but believe me he doesn't want you", she crouched down so that she was looking Ginny straight in the eye.

"Why would I listen to you?" she answered sneering, "When you feel the same thing I do".

"What?" said Hermione, shivering slightly as if somebody had walked over her grave.

"For Draco", Ginny smirked.

Hermione faltered, "Draco?"

"Yes, tell me you don't feel something for him", said Ginny the smirk still present on her face and it made Hermione want to slap her but she was right.

Hermione felt the urge to argue rise in her throat but the words wouldn't come out, Ginny had managed to discover all of this without Hermione ever having to say the words.

Another blast reawakened her, "Please Ginny", she searched her eyes for a sign that her friend was still in there, anything that could give her hope.

"What are you still doing here? She isn't coming and you have to get out of here", screamed an angry voice from behind her.

Hermione stood quickly and whirled around to find Draco standing before her.

"Blaise is keeping Mad Eye busy, I told him I would come down and make sure Ginny was locked up so I suggest you leave her", he was visibly seething, "I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to hang around when you could leave".

"What do you care whether I go or not, you shut me back in my cell", said Hermione ignoring his insult.

"I was able to show Mad Eye where your damn cell was so don't start, now get out of here before they think I had something to do about it".

"I can't leave her, don't you see?" said Hermione grabbing Ginny roughly by the shoulders and shaking her.

"You'll die otherwise", said Draco exasperated.

"I don't care", said Hermione, "Please Ginny" but Ginny was immoveable as a stone, her eyes had glazed over and all she whispered was, "I promised I would wait for him".

Hermione screamed in frustration but suddenly, Draco's arms engulfed her waist and hauled her to her feet, dragging her backwards out of the room.

"If you won't go yourself, I'll get you out", said Draco huffing against Hermione's struggling.

"Let go", she screamed, "Ginny", the last glance she got of her friend was Ginny smiling serenely at her.

Draco managed to drag her up into the lobby where they passed by Blaise who watched them confusedly.

"What are you doing?" he said imploringly.

"I caught her trying to escape and trying to get Ginny out, I figure better to keep her with me. I'd go and check on yours if I was you", said Draco his arms still clinging tightly to Hermione who had stopped struggling and was instead crying in frustration and fear at the look on Ginny's face.

Blaise hurried off in the direction of the dungeon.

Hermione finally tore herself from Draco's grasp and had enough time to scan the room, there were many bodies littering the foyer but thankfully none of the Order. She glanced over to the front doors and realised that they were indeed outnumbered, grossly in fact.

Tonks, Lupin, Kingsely, Fred, George, Molly, Arthur and Mad Eye were firing spells manically into the crowd of death eaters who conveniently had their backs to where Hermione and Draco had just emerged.

"Hermione", screamed Tonks seeing Hermione standing at the entrance to the dungeons as Draco remained hidden in the shadows of the dark corridor, "Where's Ginny?"

"She wouldn't come", said Mad Eye in response, "We have to get out of here", he stunned Lucius Malfoy as he said this and Hermione noted that Draco didn't even flinch.

"I can't leave without my daughter", shouted Molly.

"If you don't leave now, then you leave without any of your family. Leave now, come back for her when we're better armed", shouted back Mad Eye.

"Time to go then", screamed Lupin, "Fred, George go with your parents but get out of here now, no questions, you know where to go".

Hermione turned back to Draco who had remained impassive behind her during this whole exchange.

"Come with me", she said lowly.

"I told you, this isn't a fucking fairytale", he replied coldly.

Tonks ran towards them as Lupin covered her, "Come on, Hermione what are you doing?"

She raised her wand to aim at Draco only just noticing that he was there.

Hermione stood in front of him and extended her arm towards Tonks, "Take me away from here, he won't do anything".

Tonks reached out to grab her but before Tonks's hand clasped Hermione's wrist, Hermione turned around and grabbed Draco's hand, staring into his eyes and screaming "Let this be our fairytale".

And with that, Tonks unknowingly apparated three of them to somewhere far from Malfoy Manor; all Hermione knew was that when she had grabbed Draco's hand roughly he had gripped hers with equal ferocity; clinging to her as if his life depended on it, which now it probably did.

What had she done?

**What did you think? Dare I ask?**

**PurelyPoison**


	6. Chapter 6

**A bit of a filler chapter but things heat up after this, believe me.**

**PurelyPoison**

**Chapter Six-Trust**

**The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself-Friedrich NIetzsche**

Hermione whirled through the nothingness all the while aware that Draco's hand was gripping her wrist firmly. How could she have been so stupid as to bring him? He had been right, this life was not a fairytale and by believing for even a second that it could be had to make her possibly the most naive person in the world.

Why hadn't she just listened to him and left him there, where he belonged? Why did she have to feel that it was her duty to worry about him?

Suddenly, she felt the ground come up to meet her and she landed hard on her feet toppling sideways. She spluttered and coughed as sand landed in her mouth and the smell of sea salt filled her nostrils, where was she?

She opened her eyes and sat up, still trying unsuccessfully to remove all traces of sand from her face, the wide expanse of the ocean proved that she was on a beach and judging by how cold and grey it was they hadn't left England.

She scrambled quickly to her feet turning on the spot until her eyes found his. He was on his knees in front of Tonks, whose wand was trained on his head, her other hand grasped what Hermione recognised as Draco's wand and she was staring at her incredulously.

"Where did he come from?" she said to Hermione through clenched teeth.

Hermione didn't speak at first, instead watching Draco's face which bore an expression that screamed 'I knew this would happen' and he rolled his eyes at her.

"I..." she paused, was she really going to tell Tonks the reason behind his presence. It would mean admitting her feelings but she had to say something...anything.

After several moments she eventually settled on, "I brought him".

Tonks's eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed shrewdly as she sized Hermione up trying to determine if she was telling the truth, "You brought him?"

"Yes, I grabbed him before you apparated", Hermione hated that her voice trembled as she spoke and her hands shook but she willed Tonks to believe that there was more to this story than met the eye and she just wasn't ready to tell it yet.

"Remus", shouted Tonks suddenly and Hermione turned to see Remus running across the beach towards them.

A wordless look passed between Tonks and Remus and within it Hermione discerned there was so much being said without anything actually being uttered aloud.

Remus nodded and took his wand out aiming it at Draco and before Hermione could scream Draco was bound by thick, heavy ropes. He fell sideways and still managed to look haughty and annoyed even in his precarious position. Hermione felt a surge of awe for him and his calm state; she wished she could be more like that but she had to resort to hysterics to make her feelings known.

"What are you doing?" she shouted, "Let him go".

Another infuriatingly wordless look passed between Remus and Tonks and Hermione noted their worried expressions. Remus ignored her and levitated Draco, taking him up the beach towards a small cottage that sat on a grassy hill. Hermione didn't get time to wonder whose house it was before Tonks's arm enveloped her.

"Come on Hermione, let's go and talk", she said gently as if Hermione was a child.

"Why are you doing this, why won't you listen to me?" said Hermione pulling out of Tonks's arm.

"We will but I want you to come and talk to everyone first so we can determine what happened", Tonks replied patiently.

Hermione paused for a moment before the realisation struck her like a bolt of lightning, "You think I've been turned", she said quietly, her blood running cold.

Tonks said nothing and Hermione took this to confirm her suspicions.

"Oh that's just wonderful", she turned on her heel and followed Remus's footsteps in the sand towards the house, utterly furious that they would immediately jump to the conclusion that she was brainwashed. But then, isn't that exactly what had happened to Ginny?

Hermione was nothing like Ginny though, she was stronger than that. Hadn't she proven it by not succumbing as easily as her friend had? But she had succumbed in a way, hadn't she?

_Tell me you don't feel something for him_ that was what Ginny had said to her about Draco, knowing even then what Hermione didn't want to admit to herself.

Hermione shook herself and upon reaching the open door of the house took a deep steadying breath and stepped into the dark hallway.

Mad Eye clunked out of a room further down the hall, "Miss Granger, down here".

Hermione cringed, feeling as if she was in trouble and debated whether or not she would refuse to go.

"Where's Draco?" she muttered.

A shadow passed across Mad Eye's face before he murmured, "He's fine. Come on", he clunked back into the room and out of sight.

Tonks appeared behind her, giving her a slight shove so Hermione's legs would start moving.

She walked slowly towards the room, frightened of what she might find there. She was expecting to be shouted at or...well anything other than what greeted her.

Mrs Weasley, Mr Weasley, Fred, George and Kingsely were all gathered around a small dining room table, none of them sitting down but rather poised as if for a fight. Hermione started, taking a step backwards but Tonks placed her hand on Hermione's back to stop her from running.

This unnerved Hermione just as much, were they keeping her prisoner too?

She noticed Fleur and Bill standing in the corner looking at her gravely, this was their house then. That made sense she supposed, it was so far away from London no better safe house since so few knew of it.

"Take a seat Hermione", said Kingsely in his deep, resounding voice as he pointed at the chair occupying the head of the table, where they could all see her.

"Is this an interrogation?" she asked darkly her eyes fluttering to Fred and George who dropped theirs in shame.

"No dear, we want to help you", said Mrs Weasley coming forward and placing her hands on Hermione's shoulders guiding her towards the chair.

Hermione sat noticing Remus's absence; she flinched knowing that he was with Draco. Would Draco say anything about the two of them?

"Would you like a cup of tea?" said Mrs Weasley.

"For God's sake Molly, let's get on with it?" said Mad Eye  
angrily.

"I'm just being nice to her", said Mrs Weasley sniffing indignantly.

"Don't be until we determine what happened", snarled Mad Eye, "Right, Miss Granger what's your middle name?"

"What?" said Hermione her brow furrowing.

"Answer the question, your middle name", he said again glaring at her.

"Jean", answered Hermione.

"I have been informed I am not allowed to use Veritaserum on you therefore I have to resort to idiotic questions that will hopefully tell me if you are the true Hermione Granger", said Mad Eye finally taking a seat opposite her.

"This is an interrogation then", said Hermione fixing her gaze on him and trying to pretend he was the only one in the room.

"Of sorts" he replied, "Now, the last person who spoke to you before you were captured?"

"Fred", replied Hermione remembering the way he had screamed her name in shocked anguish having just watched his sister being taken.

"Where did they take you?"

"Malfoy Manor", she replied, "Voldemort and all of his death eaters were there and we were placed under the command and protection of Draco and Blaise Zabini", said Hermione robotically wanting to get this out of the way quickly so she could finally ask about Draco.

"Protection?"

"We were to be their problem under Voldemort's instructions but at that time we had no idea what they wanted us for", she replied gazing at her fingernails now, realising that it wasn't that long ago when they were raking through Draco's hair.

"And then?"

"We were put into separate dungeon cells, Ginny's was extravagant and comfortable mine was..." she paused, "dark and cold".

"Why such a difference?" said Mad Eye curiously.

"They were separating us, making our experience different so that we couldn't empathise with each other, that's what I figured anyway and it worked", Hermione spoke bitterly.

"What do you mean?"

Everyone in the room waited with baited breath, they had their suspicions of what had happened to Ginny but Hermione knew they wouldn't quite believe it until she spoke the words.

"Ginny is in love with Blaise. The longer we were there the more time she spent with him and I never saw her. He was teaching her Occlumency and she started calling Voldemort, 'The Dark Lord'", Hermione shivered at the memory of those words on Ginny's lips.

Mrs Weasley uttered a little scream, burying her face in Mr Weasley's jumper whose face was so pained that it grieved Hermione to look at them. She tried to keep her eyes trained on the table .

"That was why she would not come?" said Mad Eye, nodding solemnly.

"Yes, that part you saw with you own eyes", said Hermione frankly, knowing he had already explained this to the small group.

"What did Draco do to you then?" he continued.

"Nothing, he came to my cell everyday but I never spoke to him and he never tried to make me. I found out through Ginny's weird behaviour that they were turning her but I don't know why. I was the spare part", Hermione smiled ruefully, "I was the one who had to die, Blaise imparted that delightful piece of information".

_In that story I had to die but now, everything's changed again _added Hermione silently to herself.

Nobody said anything for the longest time then, all of them watching Hermione carefully looking for her to slip up to say something that betrayed what side she was now on.

"I'm not a death eater", she said quietly, finally lifting herr eyes to meet Mad Eye's, she pulled back her left sleeve to further prove her point, "But if you don't hurry up and act, Ginny will be".

"If they didn't turn you, they may not turn her", said Fred hopefully.

Hermione turned to face him, "They already have, and she chose Blaise and that life over Harry and her family".

"She doesn't know what she is doing", said George.

Hermione stood suddenly and quickly making them all jump, "Don't you get it?" she was shouting now, why won't they understand, "She loves him and she wouldn't leave him even when she had the perfect chance. I was trying to get her out and if Draco hadn't pulled me away I might have succeeded".

Hermione's eyes fluttered shut, she had said too much.

"Draco wouldn't let you get her out?" said Mad Eye.

"It isn't how it sounds, I was getting nowhere with Ginny and no matter what I said to her she wouldn't leave. He wanted me to get out, he saved my life essentially", she shrugged, placing her hands on the table and leaning into it suddenly exhausted.

"We'll see", was all Mad Eye said, getting to his feet, "I do believe that Miss Granger is still one of us, even with a slightly lopsided view of life".

"I don't have a lopsided view of anything, these are the facts. He saved me and he was..." Hermione tried to find the right word, kind didn't cover what he had meant to her, "He was there for me", and she finished with this because it summed up everything to her.

"It doesn't change the fact that Draco escaped by latching onto you", said Mad Eye roughly.

"No, I grabbed him?" said Hermione confusedly, "I told Tonks that I brought him here", she found Tonks with her eyes and raised her eyebrows.

"I thought you were just protecting him", said Tonks quietly.

Hermione screamed in sheer frustration, "I grabbed him; I got him out of there. He didn't want to come, it wasn't his choice".

Again nobody spoke and Hermione watched them each in turn eye her with pity, as if she was a raving lunatic.

"You don't believe me? Well, fine but I thought we could help him. He didn't ask to be a death eater. It's what happens when you are part of that family", said Hermione folding her arms.

"Well, let's see what Lupin has to say before we make any snap conclusions", said Mad Eye.

"Like thinking I'm a death eater? Yes you're right, no snap conclusions", Hermione laughed sarcastically.

"I've no doubt Draco's testimony will be remarkably different to yours and I've no doubt that he will deny saving your life as you tell it. We will just have to see what Lupin comes back with".

"He's with him now?" said Hermione knowing full well this was where Lupin had been during her own interview, "Is he questioning him?"

Mad Eye nodded, exchanging a quick glance with Kingsely which Hermione could not fail to notice.

"Is he torturing him?" she stuttered quietly.

Nobody answered her so she repeated it with a firmer, more resounding tone.

"How else do you suppose we get information from Dark wizards?" said Mad Eye gruffly.

Hermione couldn't believe it, she had promised Draco that there was a difference between good and evil and that difference was important and now here they were just proving his point that there was no happy ending.

"I told him we could help him and here you are proving that we are no better than those death eaters?" said Hermione shouting now and trembling at the thought of Draco being tortured.

"We are different to them", started Fred but Hermione cut him off.

"How? You're torturing him before even giving him a chance to say his piece, to tell you what I've just told you. We are showing him that there is no difference between us", Hermione felt the tears springing to her eyes as she watched her hopes disappear in a flash.

"We..." started Mad Eye but Hermione was on a roll.

"We are proving that we have no compassion, which was the only thing that made us different. We are supposed to help those weaker than ourselves and right now Draco is weaker and we are spelling out to him how shitty this life really is", she banged her fists off the table.

"Why are you getting so upset?" said George, "They captured you".

"But they didn't hurt me, not once in fact and he helped me get out of there of haven't you been listening to anything I said?" Hermione rounded on George squaring up to him furiously.

"Hermione, he wouldn't talk otherwise", began Mad Eye but this time Lupin interrupted.

"He won't talk at all", he said taking the seat Hermione had vacated and rubbing his eyes wearily.

"What?" said Mad Eye obviously shocked at Draco's courage.

"He wouldn't tell me anything; I tried torturing him and he wouldn't even scream, I tried reading his mind but he blocked me out and then I tried reasoning with him and I got no response".

"Where is he?" said Hermione quietly, moving slowly towards Lupin.

"In one of the bedrooms upstairs until we figure out what to do with him that is", said Lupin.

"What do you mean, do with him?" said Hermione raising her eyebrows.

"Well, we can't just keep him prisoner forever and I'll just have to make my visits more frequent until he talks to me".

Hermione closed her eyes, "I should never have brought him here, he was better off where he was. Now, they know we have him and they will want revenge", she felt like crying again. Everything he had said was true; this story was going to end badly. _Their_ story was going to end badly, she corrected herself mentally.

"I've already told you the whole story, why can't we help him? Let him fight for the Order?" said Hermione thoughtfully after a time.

"He's a death eater, we can't do that", said Lupin.

"Oh so we are going to leave Ginny to it then? Great idea", said Hermione angrily.

Lupin flashed her a look of confusion and she let Mad Eye briefly explain what she had revealed in his absence.

"Ginny couldn't be a death eater, it's not possible", said Lupin quietly.

"She will be the longer we all sit here discussing it as if it's nothing and it is possible. She has fallen in love with Blaise and she will do anything she can to be with him", said Hermione, tired of having to explain to these idiots what this all meant.

"We need to know what they have planned for Ginny in the full", said Mr Weasley speaking for the first time and he sounded as if he had a bad cold.

"That's why we have to get him to talk", said Lupin.

"Let me talk to him", said Hermione suddenly.

"Out of the question", said Mad Eye.

"Why?" she glared at him, "I'm the one who has spent the last few weeks in his company, we..." she was about to tell them what had happened between them but instead filled in the word, "talked".

Lupin remained thoughtful, "Do you think he will tell you what was planned for Ginny?"

"I think I have more of a shot than you do but thanks for buggering up any trust I might have got going by torturing him and proving that we are just as barbaric as they are", Hermione couldn't help the bitterness that flowed out with these words.

"I had to do something", said Lupin shrugging lazily.

"You could have had the decency to listen to me first", she spat back folding her arms, "Either you let me talk to him and we come up with a plan before Ginny is well and truly gone or we sit here and talk about it for the next week", she fixed her eyes on Lupin, "The choice is yours".

"How do we know you won't help him escape?" said Kingsely.

"I'm not even deigning to answer that", said Hermione, she turned towards the door preparing to go up to him.

"Take my wand", said Tonks reaching out to pass it to her.

"I don't need a wand to get him to talk to me", said Hermione.

Tonks lowered her hand slightly, surprised by these words but instead lifted it again and merely said, "It will help you lift the enchantments on the room if nothing else".

Hermione snatched it and paused before leaving the room, "Don't disturb me while I'm up there and if I'm gone for longer than a few hours then just wait longer, I have to undo what you've done remember", she nodded at Lupin.

Hermione took the stairs two at a time and after lifting the enchantments on the door she waited several seconds before lifting the latch. The truth was she was nervous, he would be waiting for her to appear and now he had the right to be smug after the way he had been treated.

_I'm just like Ginny, I've given into him_, she thought before stepping over the threshold, _No not like Ginny_, another voice added, _You never gave in to him or you would have stayed put like she did._

She shook herself slightly _I didn't stay put instead I brought him with me. She wouldn't leave Blaise and I couldn't leave him behind, who knew captivity could be so bittersweet._

She steeled herself and walked through the door into the tiny bedroom that was Draco's cell.

He was standing with his back to her looking out of the window to the sea below, watching storm clouds gathering on the horizon.

"You know Granger", he spoke before she had even shut the door; "I always knew I was right and it was nice to be shown so dramatically".

Hermione didn't answer immediately but instead shut the door and repeated all of the enchantments non-verbally. She then tucked the wand safely into the waistband of her jeans, under her jumper.

He didn't turn around.

"I'm sorry he did that to you", she said simply, knowing how pathetic it sounded.

"I'm not, it just proved my point. So when is this fairytale of ours supposed to start?" he turned to her now with his eyebrows raised and that infuriatingly smug expression etched onto his features.

He looked haggard and drawn though; it seemed the torture had taken its toll on him. His black suit jacket was thrown on the floor between them and his jumper was torn in several places.

"Why didn't you tell Lupin what happened?" said Hermione.

"What's the point in messing with their view of me", he replied shrugging, "And their view of you of course", he smirked at this.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, did you tell them what we were about to do when they so rudely interrupted us?"

Hermione dropped her eyes to the floor and shuffled her feet.

"Thought not", he replied and she heard the smile in his voice.

"I told them how you helped me though, how you didn't torture me", she said defiantly raising her head and holding his gaze this time.

"But you were ashamed to tell them about us", he said shrugging as if he had expected nothing else.

"No, not ashamed", she said surprised that he hadn't realised why she had kept quiet, "It isn't any of their business what I do and with whom. I told them I brought you here to help you and that part is the truth", she watched his expression change to confusion.

"You're not ashamed?"

"Why would I be, I wanted it as much as you did", she replied gazing at him.

"I hate you", he said, "I hate you for making me feel like this", he moved towards her tentatively waiting to gauge her reaction.

"What do you feel?" she replied taking a breath to steady herself at his close proximity.

He didn't answer her question but instead seemed to check himself and he came to an abrupt stop in front of her.

"I can't tell you what is going to happen to Ginny", he said firmly, "I'm a death eater and I can't betray my side".

"You have to tell me what is happening to her, we have to try and get her out", pleaded Hermione.

"I can't, if I squeal he will kill me", said Draco sounding just as frustrated as Hermione felt, turning his back on her and balling his fists by his side.

"We can help you", said Hermione.

"Oh yes the Cruciatus curse is so helpful", he replied bitterly.

"I won't let them do that to you again", she whispered.

"Don't you see how out roles are reversed but we still want the same thing? You are trying to get information out of me just the same way I was trying to get you to trust me and we both work for a higher power", he laughed quietly.

"But my higher power won't kill me if I fail", she answered gruffly, annoyed that he was right again.

"How do you know? They may not cast the spell but they will lead you into battle the same way. Who says you won't die?" he turned back to her his eyes burning.

"I don't die in this story", she said firmly trying to appear braver than she felt, "Remember? It's you who dies but I can stop that from happening".

"No, you can't Granger, you aren't God", he muttered darkly his eyes narrowing, "Nobody would care if I died".

"I would care", the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them and she watched as the smirk reappeared on his face but this time, it didn't match the look in his eyes.

"Looks like I did my job well then", he said but the smirk fell quickly as he gazed into her eyes.

"I know you feel something", she said coolly ignoring his derision.

He raised his eyebrows, "Prove it".

She took a breath to steady herself and then stepped forward and pressed her lips lightly to his, feeling their firm, cool texture and revelling in it.

Draco didn't move at first but a simple groan escaped him and Hermione took that as her cue to move away.

He stared at her angrily, as if he was annoyed she had won, for a long time afterwards, their faces mere inches apart and their breath coming heavily.

"They are going to turn her completely, brand her and wait until Harry sees how committed she is to their side and how in love with Blaise she is before killing her", he moved away from her, back towards the window.

She didn't speak so he around to face her again, "You're surprised I told you? What difference does it make, I'm going to die anyway as you reminded me but at least one thing you said got through to me, 'The story has to end you're right but that doesn't mean you can't change the ending, it's your story for fuck's sake and that is not nothing, that is something', he repeated her words exactly as she had said them.

"You don't think of yourself as truly part of them", she replied moving towards the door, "You said _their side_ not _our side_ and that speaks volumes so I haven't lost hope for you just yet. I have to tell them about Ginny".

"I already have a plan in mind but it means going back there as one of them again", he said quietly but the amusement in his voice was unmistakable.

"They aren't going to trust you enough to let you go back", she said pausing before lifting the enchantments off of the room, curiousity piquing her interest.

"No you're right for once, they won't but they will trust you", he replied still smiling at her.

"What?"

"You're coming back with me", he said moving towards her and placing his hand under her chin, lifting her head towards his until their mouths were almost touching.

"As my prisoner"

**I get tingles when I think about Draco speaking these words and I would utterly shame myself by being totally okay with being his prisoner!**

**Review please!**

**PurelyPoison**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey Guys, hope you're liking/loving this story so far. This is by far my favourite chapter and I have to say the idea came to me in the middle of the night that I actually had to just get up and write it!**

**Anyway, read, review and enjoy!**

**PurelyPoison**

**Chapter Seven-Faith**

**One ought to hold onto one's heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too-Friedrich Nietzsche**

"Say it one more time", said Moody slowly, emphasising each word as if Hermione was some sort of a raving lunatic.

"I'll go back to Malfoy Manor and rescue Ginny", Hermione repeated again just as slowly, waiting for the inevitable question of how she planned to do this.

Malfoy's suggestion has seemed ludicrous in her eyes and immediately after he had uttered those words her first reaction had been to pull away from his grasp and ask had he lost his mind.

"No", he had replied, "I'm finally thinking clearly. I don't give a shit about who I fight for but I sure as hell know I've had enough either way. The Order is never going to trust me enough to go back alone. That is where you come in", he had been smiling wickedly, as if re-capturing her was all he wanted in the world.

Hermione had had to wait until her heart started beating normally again before she could answer him, after all he had been so close and she had been begging him to kiss her again. Couldn't he have kissed her first and then said all of that?

In theory the plan was a very good one, but putting it into action was going to be far easier said than done and first Hermione had the delightful task of trying to convince the Order it was a good idea. She couldn't but help the niggling feeling in the back of her mind that perhaps Malfoy was lying and as soon as they got back to Malfoy Manor he would sell her out.

But something about the way he had kissed her before, made her think that this wouldn't happen. Of course, she would need to sound a lot more convincing than she felt to get anyone else to agree with her.

Her desperation to rescue Ginny was reaching a critical level so without even pausing to let Malfoy finish, she had ran down the stairs to tell the others. They sat around the table looking at her like she had grown two heads while she had explained what the death eaters had planned for Ginny.

Now, after her latest sentence, they were looking at her as if she had told them she herself was Voldemort in disguise.

"How exactly do you think you are going to do this alone?" said Mrs Weasley staring at her hopefully as if Hermione had some amazingly impressive plan, "Surely, it should be the work of the entire Order to go and get her?"

"They will see that coming, they think we have taken Malfoy prisoner which they aren't far wrong about", Hermione shot an annoyed glance at Lupin, "But, if we go in there shooting spells and killing everything in sight we are liable to just end up killing Ginny, especially if we get there too late and she is already one of them".

"So your plan is to go and get her yourself?" said Lupin, narrowing his eyes.

Hermione shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, "Well, not exactly".

"She means to bring Malfoy into this", said George slowly watching her face for a reaction and Hermione managed to completely reveal herself by going a furious shade of red, "I knew it", he said half-smiling.

"What?" said Moody staring at her incredulously, "Absolutely not Miss Granger, have you lost your mind? I was more on board with you going by yourself but this? This is unbelievable and you want us to believe that you haven't been turned", he scoffed before folding his arms over his chest but Hermione wasn't about to give up.

"I'm not getting into another discussion about whether or not you think I'm a death eater, the whole idea is absurd. I would return as Malfoy's prisoner, meaning immediate access into Malfoy Manor, no questions asked and with his help we can infiltrate what is happening to Ginny", Hermione said indignantly, squaring her shoulders.

"And tell me what you would do once you have found Ginny or spoken to her?" said Moody.

"Apparate out of there", she finished lamely before realising that apparating out of Malfoy Manor would now be impossible seeing as that is how they got out the last time.

Moody smirked at her as he watched the realisation dawn on her face, "Yes Miss Granger, there will be no apparating so, what are you going to do? Build a tunnel?"

"We will be able to apparate if Malfoy helps us get out of there, if he gets us out of the grounds and away from the Manor?" she said quietly wishing she had let Malfoy explain himself in full, he might have run through some of these details for her.

"This is merely another bump in the road however since nobody here would trust a Malfoy to do anything to help", said Lupin, his brow furrowing at Hermione.

"I trust him", said Hermione a little shakily but with all of the assurance she could muster, enough that they all raised their eyebrows at her, "I do, honestly".

"But we don't", snapped Tonks, "I don't see how this plan will work. You said that they want Harry to see what has happened to Ginny therefore they are waiting until he comes back to show off their new member, which means we have time?"

"They are branding Ginny any day now, time is something we certainly do not have in abundance but if you want her to be a death eater then by all means, leave her there", said Hermione now thoroughly annoyed, "Would you be willing to hear Malfoy give you the rest of the details, perhaps he has thought them through more than I have?"

It was said with sarcasm but it seemed to be met with consideration and Hermione's eyes widened before she finished with "Would you?" this time sincerely.

"I wouldn't mind hearing where this idea came from", said Mr Weasley timidly, "After all it is our daughter's life we are discussing".

"I'll go and get him", said Lupin before another word could be spoken.

Hermione, stunned at the turn of events, wearily settled herself into one of the dining room chairs, maybe they could discuss this rationally and give Malfoy a chance to explain himself before he ruined it for both of them by behaving like an idiot.

"Get your filthy hands off me", shouted an indignant voice from upstairs.

Then again, maybe not.

Hermione sighed and glanced at Fred and George who were wearing smug-like expression, she threw them a dirty look before seeing Malfoy shoved through the door, falling to his knees and grimacing at the resounding smack.

"Up", said Lupin grabbing his shirt collar and heaving him to his feet.

"Get off", huffed Malfoy, straightening his shirt before slumping into the chair at the head of the table.

Everyone seemed to lean backwards so that it was as if Malfoy was one end and they on the other. Everyone except Hermione that is, who instead leaned forward gravitating towards him as if he had some sort of magnetic pull around him.

"Tell them what you told me", said Hermione whispering softly as if they were really the only two in the room. His eyes flickered towards her and held her own for the briefest of moments; she felt her heart stutter and gasp. Was he even aware of the effect he was having on her? It was pathetic; he had never even told her that he cared about her so why did he matter so much to her now?

"What I told you?" his face adopted a confused expression as he folded his arms, "Let me see now, what _did_ I tell you?"

He shrugged his shoulders at her smirking at the same time, "I can't recall".

Hermione stalled, what was he doing?

"What you just said? You know, about getting Ginny out?" Hermione was praying that he would stop the pretence and come through for her but suddenly it seemed her prayers were not going to be answered.

"I don't believe I even mentioned rescuing Ginny in all that I said", said Malfoy still smirking at her, having known all of this time the conclusions she would jump to by misinterpreting his plan about going back.

"You did", said Hermione, "I know you did..." she paused for a moment before realising with a jolt that he had never said the words that he would rescue Ginny.

He had said what would happen to Ginny and then said he had a plan that involved going back there but not once had he even mentioned any of it having anything to do with getting Ginny out of there, he had left the gaps and she had just filled them in on her own.

Hermione faltered, she had seen a plan even when there hadn't been one, and she had made it all up inside her own head. Her desperation to see Malfoy as a good person had clearly increased enough to make her create an entire scenario and conversation between them that had never even taken place. He had come up with a plan alright but it had only been to get himself out of Malfoy Manor and take her with him as his prisoner. He had known she would immediately think he was taking her with him to get Ginny out and not for revenge.

Hermione had never felt so disappointed in one human being and after being subjected to an interrogation by the people she trusted most in the world, her faith on humanity was diminishing slowly before her eyes.

She lowered her gaze from his, ready to admit defeat; to admit to this boy, that was making her heart ache with longing, that he was right, life was an absolute piece of shit and people were the worst part of all.

"So what is this about you wanting to go back then?" said Moody.

"That's just a fucking stupid question", retorted Malfoy snorting in derision, glaring back at Moody.

"So none of it is true?" said Mrs Weasley.

"Of course I want to go back, I just had no intention of going back to rescue your daughter. I'm the bad guy here remember, why would I want to do anything to help any of you?" he glanced around the room at them individually as he spoke but he avoided Hermione's gaze.

He could tell she was tearing up and he wasn't sure he could look at her. In truth, he knew he was selling her out completely and he was doing it on purpose. He had wanted to show her that he was still a Malfoy, whether he wanted to be or not, but that didn't mean he wouldn't help Ginny for her.

But he wanted it to be only for her, not for these idiots too. That was why he refused to allow them to believe he was going back with their permission to do so. As far as he was concerned, he was still going and taking Hermione with him but he would do this his way, not theirs.

He needed her to realise that the Order were useless to her in this scenario, it was a harsh lesson but her trust in other people infuriated him and she had to see that she was on her own when it came to life.

"Put him back in his room", said Lupin harshly annoyed that they had wasted so much time believing him.

"No", Hermione's strangled cry echoed around the room as she rose to her feet and grabbed his shirt collar roughly, "Tell them what you said to me, tell them that you had a plan", she was crying now and behaving hysterically.

Malfoy saw his chance and he took it. This moment would haunt him forever and he wondered if she would ever forgive him, he hoped it would make her stronger but only one way to find out.

"I can't tell them something that isn't true. I already told you, this demented fantasy you have about us being in love is ridiculous", he said it through gritted teeth, wanting to give the impression that she was driving him mad but inwardly he was cringing.

Hermione dropped her hands from his shirt as if she had been burned, her heart was thumping furiously and she started hyperventilating. She looked betrayed and Malfoy felt the overwhelming guilt consume him as he dropped his gaze from hers.

"What?" uttered Moody, "What did you say?"

"I said that she seems to think that this is some fairytale story that I'm supposedly in love with her. I'm sorry we ever took her prisoner, if I'd known she was infatuated with me I never would have agreed to it", Malfoy hated himself even more with each word but he knew it had to be done.

"She is in love with you?" said George scrunching up his nose in disgust.

"Apparently, so she kept telling me every day anyway. And she has tried to show me too, it's been an absolute nightmare", Malfoy rolled his eyes, still unable to quite meet the stare of Hermione, who until now had remained silent.

"Tried to show you?" said Fred, his expression mirroring George's.

"Yes, when you turned up she had been trying to get me to have sex with her. Would've succeeded too, like I care who I sleep with, but God knows what kind of trouble that would have brought me", said Malfoy grimacing dramatically.

"You", Hermione found her voice and even though it was quiet Malfoy was glad to hear the fury behind her words, she was fighting back, this was the reaction he had hoped for, "You fucking bastard, I'll kill you", she pounded her fists against his chest and Malfoy got to his feet, grabbing her wrists roughly before she could keep hitting him.

"Granger, for fuck sake how many times do I have to tell you, I'm not in love with you. Let it go. As is I would ever love someone like you anyway", he grunted as he struggled to maintain a hold of her wrists.

"You're making this up, I knew you were evil but I never thought you would stoop this low. You kissed me back, it wasn't all me", she cried not realising that what she was saying further convinced everyone in the room that Malfoy was telling the truth, "I know you feel something for me, I know you do otherwise you wouldn't have touched me and kissed me like that".

Hermione continued to try pounding his chest and crying loudly, too loudly in fact to hear Lupin speak behind her.

"She has been brainwashed, I knew it", before lunging forwards and pinning her arms behind her back.

Malfoy roared in fury, "GET OFF OF HER", reaching out to grab Hermione back to him, he hadn't expected this.

Moody, however, got there before Malfoy could even take one step towards Hermione's struggling form, grasped tightly in Lupin's hold.

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME YOU LOOPY EYED BASTARD", roared Malfoy fighting Moody all the way even if he was at the disadvantage of size and strength, "YOUR HURTING HER HALF-BREED, LET HER GO".

Lupin stared stunned at Malfoy as he spoke these words but Hermione continued to struggle so his reverie was short lived, "Let me go", she strangled out between sobs.

Lupin was no longer listening to her though, as far as he was concerned she wasn't herself anymore, he was watching Moody struggle with Malfoy and just before the latter got the chance to punch Moody square in the face, he cast the Cruciatus curse.

"NO", screamed Hermione suddenly going limp in Lupin's eyes as she watched Malfoy writhe and scream on the ground in horror, "Stop it please, stop doing that to him".

Lupin's grip on her faltered and she fell to the ground, crawling on her hands and knees to Malfoy's writhing body.

She cried harder knowing she could do nothing to alleviate the pain he was experiencing so she turned her face back towards Lupin, "Please stop", she whispered.

It seemed to do the trick and Malfoy lay on his back panting hard but no longer in pain, hating himself and her for having gotten him into this mess and how he hated her in that moment for causing him to feel all of the things he had tried to avoid in his pathetic excuse for a life.

Hermione placed her hand on his face, wiping his hair away from his eyes as the others looked on in shocked horror. Malfoy's gaze flickered towards her and his eyes softened the slightest fraction, she looked like she had been cursed herself and he had done that to her.

"You were right about all of it", she whispered bitterly, her hand now resting on his cheek.

"Don't lose faith in me just yet", he whispered enigmatically but low enough for nobody to hear him, "Not yet", his pale face was streaked with sweat and tears but something about his steely resolve made her heart falter once more as he tried to communicate to her desperately that he was sorry, leaning his face into her hand and begging her to hear the words he couldn't say aloud.

Hermione held his gaze, dying to just be enveloped in his arms and hating herself for feeling it and just before she thought she couldn't hate him anymore for what he had done here but knowing there was more to it than he could tell her right now, she leaned forward and brushed her lips on his forehead.

His eyes flickered shut and he sighed contentedly and then time seemed to speed up and Moody was hauling Malfoy to his feet and dragging him away from her.

"Take him back up to his room", said Lupin, "Until we figure out what to do, he may still be useful to us", he had to shout to make himself heard over Malfoy's protestations and constant swearing, "They did turn her, just not in any way we were looking for, they made her fall in love with him" he sighed turning his back on Hermione as he faced the others.

Hermione remained kneeling on the floor, next to the spot he had been moments before her hand still extended out, "They didn't make me fall in love with him", she whispered but nobody heard her because Malfoy was making enough noise for both of them.

"He did", she whispered before more tears ran down her cheeks, "He made me".

**I felt all tingly writing those last words! Review please J Thanks to everyone who has so far, it really is the best encouragement!**

**PurelyPoison**


	8. Chapter 8

**Oh, I hope its okay. I didn't have the chance to proof read it properly because I just needed to get it posted. Not much happens, but it sets the scene for the remaining chapters. There isn't that many left really.**

**Thanks for reading, review please!**

**PurelyPoison**

**Chapter Eight-Power**

**What else is love but understanding and rejoicing in the fact that another person lives, acts, and experiences otherwise than we do?-Friedrich Nietzsche**

"Get your fucking hands off me", Draco roared as he was thrown brutally back into the tiny upstairs room that he now called hell.

"I'm surprised you have the gall to speak to me like that", sneered Moody wiping his hands on his shirt as if merely touching Draco made him dirty, "You should be rotting in hell for what you've done to her, it's disgusting".

Moody grimaced as he spoke which only highlighted his mangled features and he turned back towards the door.

"I did nothing to her before today", snarled Malfoy, pushing himself up from the floor and straightening his shirt, "And believe me what you think I did to her, is so much worse than what actually happened".

Draco turned towards the bay window and stared out into the stormy horizon, really they could have put him in worse accommodation. What they had subjected Hermione to in that poky little dungeon had been so much worse than this.

"What does that mean?" snorted Moody in derision, pausing at the door.

Draco turned around, scowling at this loopy freak, "You just keep pushing her away and see what happens".

"Look here you filthy death eater, she belongs with us and so does Ginny and we won't forget that", Moody turned once again to leave, tired of being scrutinised by this cynical boy who was far too young to be as cruel as he was.

Draco was tired of being patronised so he narrowed his eyes and formed the hardest expression that he had the energy to muster, "I never asked her to leave your side", he smirked, "She came willingly".

Moody roared and before Malfoy could even blink, Moody's fist was smacking off of his right eye.

Malfoy lay once again sprawled on the floor breathing heavily and feeling his eye begin to swell.

"You are disgusting", said Moody before slamming the door behind him.

Malfoy didn't move for a long time. In truth, he had no idea what the point of getting up would be mainly because where would he go? The room was so damn small he could walk the length of it in less than a second.

He wasn't proud of what he had said; he had only really done it to annoy Moody. It wasn't precisely true. Not only had she sort of...succumbed to him, he had enjoyed it. It took him all his energy not to kiss her every chance he got, to run his hands through her hair and pull her close. Draco sighed almost contentedly.

_She's a mudblood, that's disgusting_ his mind screamed at him.

He shifted uneasily on the floor, when they had been in Malfoy Manor it had been his turf, his terms. He had decided to show her his memories of her; he had been sitting in her cell waiting for her to talk. Now, he was in a far more precarious position but he was still waiting.

Waiting for her to come and talk to him.

And she would come; her very nature screamed that she would have to resolve what he had done.

Eventually, Draco sat up and sighed. If she was coming, he better get ready for her visit.

He pulled out Moody's wand and twirled in between his fingers. It had felt wonderful pulling it from the inside of his robes while he wrestled him up here. It had made Malfoy feel empowered and it had been a revelation in itself. Moody was getting older, his reflexes weren't as quick as they used to be and he was forgetting that even dark wizards used petty means to get what they wanted.

He knew the wand wouldn't take to him easily but he planned to force it since he had no idea where his own wand was now. As long as it helped him get out of here, it didn't really matter what it did after that.

The room grew steadily darker as sun set over the beach. Malfoy took one last look at the view before it disappeared into the night. He figured she would wait until everyone was in bed, they would lock her in some room but she would get out. He had no doubt about that.

He decided that trying to appear nonchalant was his best bet, considering his mind was in utter turmoil it would be wrong to show her that. He lay back on the soft bed and continued twirling the wand in his hand; it almost gave him a sense of comfort.

It didn't take as long as he thought, that or he was lying there for hours and hadn't noticed time passing.

The door creaked open and the hand that had been twirling the wand came to a standstill. He could hear her breathing softly as she padded across the room. Perhaps he wasn't in for the battle he had expected.

THWACK!

Then again, maybe not.

Draco threw himself to his feet, clutching his stomach as he went where Hermione had punched him with her fist and damn the girl could throw a punch.

"What the fuck?" shouted Malfoy as he stared across the bed at Hermione.

Her fists were clenched and her eyes blazing as she took him in. He had never seen her look so desirable. Her hair was tousled and mussed up and Draco was ashamed to see her lip was split and swollen.

"Did someone hit you?" he said through gritted teeth, the protective anger coursed through him as he glared at her.

His question caught her off guard and her eyes widened slightly in confusion. "No, nobody hit me", she replied.

Draco pointed at her lip, "What is that then?"

"I fell when they pushed me into the living room", she muttered lowering her gaze.

"You mean when they threw you in there? That's rich, being on their side is nearly as bad as being the enemy", he scoffed at her, watching as her expression darkened.

"They think I'm on your side, it isn't their fault. It's yours".

Draco's mind screamed at him to grab her and just take her right there on the bed. He cleared his throat and moved towards the centre of the room, just to be away from that image in his head.

He put his hands in his pockets, trying to disguise his obvious discomfort but only managing to appear even more arrogant.

"You...you said..." Hermione was faltering and Draco realised she had had an argument completely prepared in her head. In actual fact, she had probably gone through the entire scenario in her head over and over again. But something about the way he was behaving was putting her off.

Had she already given up on him that she had expected him to be heartless and cold? In his moment of weakness, with her hand pressed so softly against his cheek, he had told her not to give up on him...not just yet.

It had been the truth.

"I what?" he said smirking at her determined to hide the fact that he was unsure what else to do.

Her eyes flickered shut and she took a deep breath, trying to obviously re-organise what she had been going to do to him in the first place. Draco watched her do it with ease; he loved the effect he was having on her.

She opened her eyes again and Draco was pleased to see that they were blazing once more.

"You son-of-a-bitch, do you know what your little stunt has done? What it has cost me?" she was speaking quickly and softly, possibly frightened of being heard.

"What it cost you?" he replied incredulously, "Are you joking?"

He didn't give Hermione time to reply before launching into yet another tirade of how unfair life was but this time she wouldn't even let him get half way through.

"Oh shut up", she shouted in frustration, "You think your life is hell? Well unlike you, I was actually okay with my life for once. I had friends, I was part of an Order that fought for everything that is good in this world and with one sentence you destroyed it all. Is that what you wanted?" she was seething at him.

"Yes", he cried raising his hands above his head in mock celebration, "Yes it is precisely what I wanted. I wanted you to see that this world we live in is not fun and games. People are the worst culprit of all for making this existence even shittier than it already is. I had to show you that everything you believe in is wrong".

She stared at him for a minute or two before answering, "Why did you have to show me?" she eventually whispered.

"I...what?" Draco replied nonplussed.

"Why was it so important that you ruin everything I believe in? What does it matter to you whether I think this world is fair or not?" she was moving slowly towards him and each step sent a shiver down Draco's spine.

"Why would you care what I think?" she continued coming to a halt in front of him, her face mere inches from his own.

"I don't care what you think", he lied folding his arms so that there was more distance between them.

"You obviously do, you said that we would go back and then when the time came to admit it to everyone, you bailed on me. Why did you do that?"

"Because I didn't want any of them believing I was some sort of hero. I'm not going back because I want to get Ginny out but because..." he stopped, did he really want to tell her the reason?

She raised her eyebrows, waiting for the rest of his sentence as if she already knew what he was going to say.

"Well because you want to get her out", he muttered lowering his gaze.

"Oh so you want to do something nice for me?" her sarcasm was so apparent, Draco didn't even need her to roll her eyes afterwards, "And all this time I thought you were just doing it to be an obnoxious asshole".

Draco smirked at her, "I thought you were supposed to be really smart but you are a terrible judge of character".

"I don't think I'm a bad judge at all", she sniffed.

"Well your precious Order now think you've turned and the side they think you've turned on them with, wouldn't want someone of your kind", he was still smirking, "Really, I think you've done pretty badly".

"You are the reason the Order think I've turned, you and only you", she was seething again. He was infuriating her and enjoying it immensely.

"Well, your imagination did run riot back there. I want to go back and help _you_ get Ginny out. I don't want to do it on the Order's terms. I want to do it on my own and since they seem blissfully unaware that she faces her fate any day now and you aren't as naive, I figured you would be fool enough to come back with me", Draco unfurled his arms, willing her to believe him.

"What would we do?" she whispered.

"We would get her out", he replied shrugging.

"How do we intend to do that?"

"I'm planning as I go along; to be honest we would have to wing it anyway. Best not have anything concrete just in case somebody decides to filter through your thoughts", said Draco matter-of-factly.

"That's just fucking stupid", she replied folding her own arms and scoffing.

"It definitely isn't, believe me", he smiled back at her tense expression, "This was what I wanted to prove, that you are stronger than you think".

"You wanted to show me that I wasn't weak? You wanted to prove that by making everyone turn against me?" she was getting angry again, her arms dropped down by her sides.

He shrugged in response.

"Do you know what they did to me when you were brought back up here?" she said quietly, "They discussed what had happened to me as if I wasn't in the room, said I'd been turned because I'd fallen in love with you. Then they dragged me away and locked me in the living room downstairs without my wand but you want to know what the worst part was?"

Draco nodded slowly, listening intently.

"They wouldn't even look at me. Not even a glance. It was as if I was no longer Hermione and therefore I didn't matter. What are they going to do when they see Ginny?", her shoulders slumped in defeat at these words.

"Have you?" whispered Draco.

"Have I what?" Hermione replied, averting her eyes from his gaze.

"Have you fallen in love with me?"

He wasn't sure why he was asking. Did he really want to know what her feelings were either way? He doubted it since he hadn't even begun to contemplate how he felt about her. He couldn't think about that.

"I'm not answering that", she said, "You don't deserve my love".

Suddenly Draco was furious and he found himself grabbing her wrists roughly, "And you don't deserve mine but that doesn't mean you don't want it".

"Get off me", she struggled against him but only served to press herself further into him.

"Tell me you don't want it", he whispered hungrily.

Hermione stopped fighting him and instead looked up into his eyes. His gaze was so intense she almost felt her insides turn to jelly as his eyes swept over her features.

When his mouth lowered to hers she was utterly helpless.

There was nothing gentle about this kiss, it was rough and desperate. His mouth clung to hers with a ferocity that both frightened and aroused her.

His hands let go of her wrists to wrap themselves around her waist pulling her to him and letting her feel the discomfort he had tried so hard to hide.

She groaned, opening her mouth and allowing him access, letting his tongue probe deep into her as she tangled her own against it.

Her hands moved to rest against his muscular chest, before lowering down and slipping beneath the waistband of his trousers.

He groaned at how forward she was being but revelled in her touch as her hand stroked his erection, teasing the tip with the tips of her fingers.

His hand moved to cup her bottom while the other cupped her breast, teasing the nipple underneath her t-shirt between his fingers and smiling inwardly as she moaned.

He manoeuvred her towards the bed, never breaking the kiss as he did so, and gently lowered her down until his body covered her own. She moaned and shifted beneath him restlessly.

He loved her eagerness and began to remove her top in earnest.

"Wait", she whispered breathlessly, "let me get more comfortable".

He leaned back as she shifted her position but within seconds, she had placed her feet on his chest and shoved him backwards, away from her body and the bed, so that he smacked into the wall opposite and slid slowly down it in utter disbelief.

She was standing on the other side of the bed, holding Moody's wand aloft so that it was directly in line with his face.

Draco froze and his face fell, Moody's bloody wand, he had left it on the bed after she had punched him completely forgetting its existence but she must have felt it underneath her back and seen her opportunity.

"What are you going to do Granger? Run and tell the Order what I did?" Malfoy got to his feet slowly, seeing white spots in front of his eyes from having hit his head so hard and his voice was tired and weary. She really was full of surprises.

"No", she replied raising her eyebrows and lowering the wand, "I just wanted to see what your reaction would be if you thought I had bested you again", she smiled, "I must be convincing".

Draco huffed, "Well then what are you going to do?"

"I'm not telling the Order anything, they are no good to me now. We are going back to Malfoy Manor tonight. Right now in fact", she walked to where he was standing.

"You have to go as my prisoner, remember? He said watching her face carefully.

"Oh I know that, but we are going to get Ginny out. You and me", she smiled, "I haven't given up on you just yet and since you were so eager to see my inner strength, now is your chance. Let's go".

Draco snatched Moody's wand from her grasp, "You know you are walking back into the lion's den and there is a chance that..."

"That we'll die? Oh how predictable of you to say so", Hermione narrowed her eyes, "Let's just go. I'm tired of these games".

"Whatever happens next...you have to be prepared. I'll keep you alive as long as I am able", he said placing his hand on her arm, "The story has to end remember?"

"It is going to end on our terms though, we are going back. I never said the story had to end badly", she said looking up into his eyes again.

"You didn't", he whispered, planting a soft kiss on her forehead before they apparated, "But I did".

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	9. Chapter 9

**I'm getting excited now, possibly only two or three chapters left but never fear I have started a new fic and this one is going to be an epic novel! My longest ever I would imagine! Pop along and read ****_Through my Eyes_****, it is my new baby.**

**Review please!**

**PurelyPoison**

**Chapter Nine-Broken**

**To forget one's purpose is the commonest form of stupidity-Friedrich Nietzsche**

The memory of Draco's soft kiss still lingered in Hermione's mind, even after they had touched down at Malfoy Manor. But everything about it; his tenderness, the way he had hesitated slightly before doing it and held her tightly, was dashed the second Hermione realised the Death Eaters had been waiting for them.

They landed in the same stone courtyard Hermione and Ginny had collapsed in only a few weeks before. Hermione was still encased in Draco's arms and failed to realise her surroundings before she was hauled unceremoniously to her feet by Draco himself.

She found herself barricaded in on all sides by Lucius, Narcissa, Bellatrix, Blaise and...

"Ginny?" Hermione whispered, noticing for the first time that her best friend was one of the intimidating group.

"Congratulations Draco, the Dark Lord will be pleased that you finally did something right. We didn't give up on you", Bellatrix snickered and twirled her wand at Hermione's throat menacingly.

"Nobody touches her, she's mine remember", retorted Draco, pulling Hermione round behind him in order to keep her away from his Aunt who was staring at her like a cat stares at a mouse.

Hermione said nothing, she was in too much shock and it sat around her shoulders like a cloak, hindering her from even reacting to what was happening around her.

Lucius raised his eyebrows at his son, "You know what has to be done to her?"

"I know she will die", said Draco snorting back at him, "You don't need to remind me".

"He doesn't know", whispered Naricssa casting a worried look at her husband and then her sister.

"Know what?" said Draco impatiently; turning to check Hermione was still there. Her silence was unnerving him; surely she didn't think he had betrayed her? Surely she had to have realised what was going on here?

"The Dark Lord's plans for the mudblood have changed", said Blaise taking a step towards his friend, "He wants to break her his way now".

"What does that even mean?" said Draco once again turning his head back towards Hermione and allowing his eyes to quickly scrutinise her face, which remained impassive almost as if she had retreated into some dark corner within her head where he couldn't find her.

"Torture".

Draco turned sharply to the voice that had whispered so gleefully and found Bellatrix smiling back at him.

"What?"

"Your methods were too slow and produced no results. Not only did you fail to turn her to our side but you succeeded in getting yourself captured. The Dark Lord is unimpressed with you but he will deal with that, you must take your punishment". She could barely contain her excitement as she jumped up and down on the spot. Draco fought the urge to grab her shoulders and hold her in place.

"I don't give a shit about that. I meant what do you mean about torture for her?" Draco waved his hand impatiently, ignoring the shudder that trailed down his spine at the thought of Voldemort torturing him but knowing that he would just have to take it.

"She will be tortured until she is utterly submissive to us". Bellatrix uttered the sentence so slowly, as if it were her last meal and she was savouring every mouthful. It was spoken with such reverence, dripping with anticipation that Draco felt the bile rise in his throat.

"By who?" said Draco attempting to clear his throat without seeming bothered at all by what was happening.

"Why Draco, by your own hand of course", said Bellatrix.

Draco shuddered blatantly this time and he averted his eyes from the boring stare of his mother. She would sense what was going on here if she was able to discern the terror in his eyes. Years of being beaten by his father and refusing to talk about it with her, had given her a sixth sense of when something was wrong with him. This was no different.

But how could he possibly allow this to happen to Hermione?

Hermione seemed to jolt out of her reverie at the sound of Bellatrix's words and Draco felt a slight tug on the hand that was still holding her firmly behind his back.

He turned to her, "You hear that?" he snarled.

Her expression changed to one of fear at his harsh words and angry glare, "Please...don't", she whispered unable to control the shuddering sweeping its way across her body. Draco watched the glimmer in her eyes diminish as she realised her fate. He pleaded with her silently to realise that he would not let her die. Not while he was still here to prevent it. But she couldn't look at him properly; her eyes were trained on the ground. Tears forming quickly and threatening to spill, "Please don't hurt me".

Draco's voice caught in his throat as he took in her terror. She actually believed he was capable of doing that to her? Even now? After everything?

Bellatrix cackled from behind them, not giving Draco any time to calm his mind, "She's actually pleading with him".

Draco tensed his shoulders in annoyance but didn't turn away from Hermione's face but she still refused to look up at him. He could not risk taking her face and forcing it to meet his gaze. No matter how hard he would try, he would betray himself by being too tender with her and they would see it. Instead, he tried to squeeze her hand reassuringly but she could only grimace in response, already resigned to the feeling that he had double crossed her. Draco screamed at her in his mind not to be so naive. But in truth he was feeling betrayed himself, she had given up on him and so easily too.

"Draco, did they harm you? Seek information?"

Draco finally tore his eyes from Hermione's downturned gaze and searched for his father's face.

"What do you think?" he muttered, gesturing to his still very black eye. "I hardly told them anything, they already know you have her", he pointed at Ginny with his wand arm.

"Is that?" said Narcissa, noticing for the first time the thick mahogany wand Draco was holding.

"Mad Eye Moody's wand, mine got taken", said Draco shrugging, "Had to get a wand to get out of there and he made it all too easy".

Hermione struggled slightly, repulsed by this side of him. This boy who she had stupidly trusted had walked her into a trap. Everything she had hoped for had died in less than five minutes.

"Let us go then, we must press on. Such a lot to do", said Bellatrix finally turning back towards Malfoy Manor.

Ginny took Blaise's hand, staring at Hermione during the entire exchange as if she was someone that she had known once a very long time ago but no longer mattered.

"Yes Draco come", said Narcissa beginning to follow her sister.

"Where are we going?" said Draco pulling Hermione close behind him.

"We must prepare for the Dark Lord's arrival", said Lucius turning on his heel without really looking at his son. For once in his life Draco wished he had someone he could confide in. Not some coward with a wife who ruled him or some psychotic lunatic that he could never believe he was related to. He really was on his own.

Draco watched his parents move further on with the others and wondered how it had come to this. How had he been spawned from them? He was so different.

He turned back quickly to Hermione when the others were out of earshot.

"Hermione, can you hear me?" he whispered hurriedly, glancing back over his shoulder to ensure nobody had decided Draco was behaving suspiciously and was watching him.

"You bastard", she whispered the tears that had been threatening to spill flowed freely down her face now, falling into her mouth as she spoke but she didn't try to brush them away.

"No Hermione, it isn't like that", he whispered begging her to understand, "I didn't realise they would be waiting. I didn't know this would happen. I thought I could get you in and get you out again. Please...I told you not to give up on me, don't say that you already have. Not yet". He glanced over his shoulder and saw Bellatrix watching him menacingly.

"I'm coming for fuck sake", he shouted, doing his best to appear frustrated.

"Come on Hermione", he tapped her cheek lightly, trying to get her to speak again, "Tell me you haven't given up on me".

"Sorry to disappoint", she said thickly now glaring at him, "I should have given up on you years ago".

"You can't mean that", he said exasperated, "Forgive me please". He gave her own hurt glance before moving behind her and shoving her roughly forwards to walk in front of him and pointing Moody's wand at her back, "Walk".

Hermione turned to face him once more, "I hate you". Then she turned and began walking back towards the Manor, trembling uncontrollably.

Draco walked into the now empty foyer, an internal battling raging in his head. How the hell was he supposed to get her out now? Why should he even bother if she didn't even believe in him anymore?

_No, don't go down that road. That's a dangerous fucking place to go._

Draco tried to pull his thoughts back to the situation at hand, he had promised her that he would get Ginny out and goddammit he would keep his word.

"Draco, in here", his mother's soft whispering voice carried from the large ballroom on his left into the foyer.

"I'm taking her back to her cell?" replied Draco thoroughly confused now.

"No, Draco. You are to bring her in here so that we may prepare", giggled Bellatrix.

Hermione threw a terrified glance back over her shoulder at him. He glanced once at the ballroom doors and reassuring himself that they couldn't see him placed his hand over Hermione's. At first he heard her breathing stop and he worried that she would scorn his attempt to reassure her.

But in the space of several seconds her hand closed over his and squeezed it tightly. She sobbed quietly and Draco felt his heart begin to ache. What fresh torture would they face now?

"I'm here, remember", he whispered, "I'm right here".

He let go of her hand and he watched her shoulders droop at the loss of contact. He placed his left hand on her shoulder, positioned the wand at her back once again and steered her into the ballroom.

The sight that met his eyes made him want to vomit, or scream or faint. Or maybe all three at once.

It took his eyes some time to adjust to the different light. The room had been shrouded in darkness and all that lit it were flaming torches dotted around the walls. Draco could see his breath and shivered at the sudden drop in temperature.

In the centre of the ballroom was a large stone slab, almost like an old tablet of some sort but large enough that you could lie down on. It was covered with writings in a language Draco could not discern but it was also covered with red markings that, Draco realised with a jolt, were looked a lot like dried blood. Manacles were positioned at the four corners of the slab, each one made to look like a black, coiling snake.

The slab had been positioned on a large stone...altar almost; an altar which depicted hundreds of humans being crushed under the weight of the slab. Draco was reminded forcibly of the statue that now occupied the main foyer in the ministry of magic. He swallowed, realising it was humans in their rightful place.

"What is this?"

"This Draco is the Dark Lord's wishes", said Bellatrix adjusting the manacles as she spoke. The chains rattled loudly in the room.

"What does that mean?" He positioned Hermione behind him as he spoke, knowing as he did so that it was too late. She had already seen more than she needed to.

"Why, this is what you've been working towards Draco. This is your punishment. You will torture her into submission but not only that. You will show her her rightful place in this world", smiled his mother, extending her hand towards her son which could have been meant as a loving gesture if Draco did not know her. He ignored it.

"What?" He was whispering, already knowing the answer to his question.

"You think the Dark Lord does not know that your feelings have changed", smiled Blaise, "He sees everything".

"I still don't understand", said Draco growing angrier by the second.

"I told him everything".

Draco jumped when he heard the sound of her voice. The red-head had not spoken during the entire exchange but when she did speak, her voice was completely different. It was dark and daring with just a hint of excitement in her tone. It reminded Draco of mentally unstable people who sing to themselves, the voice is soft but the tone is haunting.

"And what would everything be?" he replied staring at her coldly.

"I told him how the two of you had fallen in love. I told him how you tried to help her escape and how her feelings for you were mutual", Ginny was grinning from ear to ear and Draco felt like breaking all of her teeth.

Someone that he thought didn't matter, someone he thought hadn't even really noticed the exchange between him and Hermione in her cell, had sold him out; betrayed him to the Dark Lord.

How could he have been so stupid as to forget all about Ginny?

"No", he heard Hermione whisper behind him.

He looked over his shoulder and actually saw her heart break in the expression on her face. She looked utterly broken, her best friend had turned and now she was back in the lion's den.

"It's true", she lifted her left sleeve and bared her dark mark, the snake coiling around her arm, for Hermione to see, "He trusts me and I told him all of it".

"And now he is angry", said Lucius glaring at his son, "As are we all. You disgust me. I am ashamed to call you my son".

"I won't lose any sleep over that", snorted Draco in response, his eyes flickering from Hermione's broken features to glower at his father.

"But you have the chance to redeem yourself", said his mother taking another step towards him, "You must do as he asks".

"What will he ask me to do?" Draco didn't move forwards but stayed rooted to the spot, still picturing what it would feel like to kill Ginny. She had hurt Hermione more than he ever could have and Draco didn't know how to fix it. Indeed, he couldn't fix it. Whether she ended up back with the Order, the mark would remain on her skin like a painful reminder of the weak bitch that she was and Harry would always know it was there.

"We must await his arrival for that. But we can prepare", continued Narcissa turning towards Bellatrix who moved to stand next to her and drawing Draco's attention completely. His blood ran cold, he knew what came next, they had tortured people before but he was sure that this time something would be different and he was right.

This was the Dark Lord's punishment for him. The worst kind of torture.

"Now", said his Aunt baring all of her teeth as she smiled at him pulling him back to reality, "Strip her and chain her down".

**I found this chapter so hard to write so please review and let me know that it is alright! Once I got into it, it did get easier but I would still love some reassurance!**

**Thank you to all my faithful reviewers, I hope you know who you are, I always await your reviews anxiously and excitedly!**

**PurelyPoison**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay if you like my writing and you like Dramione, go and please read ****_THROUGH MY EYES _****Honestly, it's all from Draco's POV and it's actually fun to write him as a bad guy for once.**

**Review!**

**PurelyPoison**

**Chapter Ten-Torn**

**Free will without fate is no more conceivable than spirit without matter, good without evil-Friedrich Nietzsche**

"You have to be fucking kidding me?"

Bellatrix's words still reverberated around the room and Draco couldn't do much more than stare at her with his mouth agape. When he had eventually managed to speak, the words had come out incredulously and without the derision he usually adopted and had therefore very little impact.

Bellatrix smiled, "I never make jokes for the amusement of others Draco, that much about me you should know".

Hermione stiffened next to him but still said nothing. Draco wondered if she was still reeling over the shock of Ginny's departure from the only reality she had ever known. How could someone, who was brought up surrounded by family and all that is good in this world, turn so easily? With so little persuasion? A boy had promised her love and she had fallen for it.

But, Hermione had realised with a jolt, had she not done precisely the same thing? Draco hadn't even needed to persuade her, she had come willingly; refusing to believe that he was only made up of evil.

"You know how the ceremony must take place", said his mother solemnly, dragging Draco's thoughts away from Hermione.

"Ceremony? As far as I was aware, this was torture not a ceremony or perhaps you neglected to tell me something?" said Draco narrowing his eyes and unconsciously pulling Hermione even further behind his back.

"Torture is the least of her worries now", said Blaise smirking before leaning down to plant a kiss into the crook of Ginny's neck as she stood in front of him giggling madly.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Draco growled.

"It means Draco that the Dark Lord has more planned for her than a simple act of torture", Lucius muttered, marvelling at his sons blatant stupidity.

Draco ignored him; his father's answer had made it clear that they themselves had no actual idea of what Voldemort had planned.

Nobody said anything for several minutes as they watched Draco assess the mess he was now in. He had caused this; he had brought her back believing that none of them were even remotely aware of his feelings for Hermione. By coming back to get Ginny out, he had figured Ginny was the victim of this story not the heartless bitch who was the reason he was in so much trouble now.

"Now Draco we will stall no more, the Dark Lord approaches. Strip her and chain her down or we will do it for you", said Bellatrix.

Draco raised his wand, "She's my problem and you won't touch her". He wasn't sure if he was only digging a deeper hole for himself by showing them that he cared about her. He was sure it certainly wasn't helping but no matter how hard he tried to persuade himself that he was still a death eater, his heart was paying him no attention.

Bellatrix sighed in disappointment, "Blaise, would you mind?"

Draco shifted into a defensive position but it really didn't matter what he did now, there were too many of them. He realised his mistake before Blaise had even uttered the spell to disarm him and as the invisible ropes were conjured and he lost his hold on Hermione, he knew he had resigned her to a fate worse than death.

Hermione screamed and struggled as Blaise grabbed a hold of her, pinning her arms by her side and wrestling her over towards the altar.

"Shut her up", said Bellatrix.

Ginny aimed a swift punch to Hermione's gut so that the scream guttered and came to an abrupt halt as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Stop", shouted Draco but they were all ignoring him now; he wasn't worth their time anymore.

Blaise hauled Hermione's now limp body over to the table and lifted her until she was sitting on the stone slab. He positioned himself between her legs and turned back towards Draco, "Is this how you fucked her muggle-lover?"

"Get the fuck off of her", shouted Draco, still struggling against his binds.

"Like I would want to touch her like that especially if it meant actually being _inside _her, I would surely catch something", he smirked.

"Stop touching her", Draco roared, struggling madly on the floor.

"Yes I do agree with Mr Malfoy, we must not sully our hands Mr Zabini", everybody felt his presence the second the words had floated into the room. There was a chill to them that reminded Draco forcibly of the dementors.

Voldemort floated, rather than walked into the room, but he still managed to maintain the demeanour of one who rules the world. As a child, Draco's father had instilled in him that your walk was everything. It said who you were and told everyone around you how much better you were than them. It was how Draco had come to adopt his sauntering swagger. Now it made him feel sick.

He was in big trouble now...unless, an unbidden thought popped into Draco's mind. Unless, he let Voldemort read his mind, show him what had happened while he was with the Order. The parts he wanted Voldemort to see that is, the part in the kitchen where he had allowed the Order to turn on Hermione.

To get that far though he had to come to his senses and stop worrying about Hermione's welfare. She was going to scream in pain in this room before the night was over that part was a certainty. But surely, he could prevent her from dying?

Everyone bowed in Voldemort's presence and Draco had to admit that the urge to laugh when he saw Ginny bow her head, was incredibly strong.

"Now, this is not the scene I had expected. Why is Draco not performing the job Mr Zabini found so unappealing?" He was like a teacher surveying his classroom but what he saw disappointed him.

"My Lord, we..." Bellatrix had taken a step forwards but Voldemort silenced her with a hand.

"Draco", he surveyed him slowly, "You are bound?"

"Yes", said Draco and then realised he needed to be on their side again to get what he wanted so he corrected himself, "Yes my Lord".

"But why?" Voldemort spoke so smoothly that it made Draco want to shiver but he had to hold his nerve.

He glanced up catching Voldemort's eyes dead-on, "I believe, my Lord, that you have been grossly misinformed about my situation with _her_", he glared over at Hermione as he spoke.

"Have I?" Voldemort's gaze flickered to Ginny and back, "I cannot believe that".

"Well, I'm assuming my Lord that you performed _Legilimens _in order to see what Ginny was talking about with regards my helping Hermione escape?"

Voldemort said nothing which Draco took for confirmation of his question.

"I was merely acting my Lord, getting her to trust me as you said I must. You noticed that she took me with her to the Order? The Order have turned on her", said Draco triumphantly.

He watched his parents exchange glances and Bellatrix stuttered.

"He never said anything", she began indignantly.

"Hush", said Voldemort as if speaking to a child and Bellatrix hung her head as if scolded.

"They never gave me the chance", said Draco, "If you would look my Lord, you will see". He bowed his head and waited, preparing his head for the onslaught.

It was like watching a movie in reverse but that had been edited drastically. Draco hoped he had put the sequence of events together carefully enough in his head for Voldemort not to notice the inconsistencies.

He knew he had been successful when the words he had spoken floated into the forefront of his mind with ease, plain for Voldemort to see.

_"Oh no, I want to go back I just had no notion of going back to rescue your daughter. I'm the bad guy here remember, why would I want to do anything to help any of you?"_

_"I already told you, this demented fantasy you have about us being in love is ridiculous"_

_"You're making this up, I knew you were evil but I never thought you would stoop this low. You kissed me back, it wasn't all me", she cried "I know you feel something for me, I know you do otherwise you wouldn't have touched me and kissed me like that"._

_"Granger, for fuck sake how many times do I have to tell you, I'm not in love with you. Let it go. As is I would ever love someone like you anyway"_

_"She has been brainwashed, I knew it" said Lupin, before lunging forwards and pinning her arms behind her back._

Draco didn't need to shut his mind after he had shown Voldemort this part, the Dark Lord had already pulled out as soon as he had seen all that he needed to.

"She is in love with you?" said Voldemort glancing towards Hermione, who had remained sitting on the stone slab, unmoving with silent tears running down her cheeks. Draco wondered how she managed to say nothing at all if their positions were reversed they wouldn't be able to shut him up.

Voldemort started laughing, the kind of evil chuckle that made the temperature in the room plummet even further.

"You have done well Draco", he flicked his wand and the spell binding Draco was lifted, "You managed to get her to trust you completely and you have alienated her from the Order, congratulations. You have redeemed yourself in my eyes and I take it you got her to come back with you..."

"With the promise of helping her", said Draco, "She made it all too easy".

When he spoke these words, Hermione's head lifted a fraction to glance at him and the look in her eyes frightened him to his very core. Her eyes were deadened as if all the life behind them had given up hope and died. That was why she had stayed silent and unmoving, she had already given up.

Draco's shoulders slumped and his blood ran cold. How could he ask her to endure anything he was about to do and then forgive him if she had already resigned herself to death?"

"Well, we shall continue then", said Voldemort raising his hands in mock celebration before laying one long hand on Draco's shoulder, "Draco if you would prepare our guest?"

"Prepare her for what?" said Draco.

Voldemort smiled, "Draco, strip her down please. We must show her humiliation".

"I can't do that", said Draco wrinkling his nose in mock disgust, "I can't..."

"You must, how else do we truly show her to be ashamed of herself", said Voldemort his grip on Draco's shoulder tightening.

Draco knew that his fate and Hermione's rested on how he performed now. Voldemort was playing the tune and Draco had no choice but to dance to it, it would mean saving her life in the end.

He nodded and moved towards her, she shrank away from him but did not move completely.

Draco turned to ask for his wand back before he heard Voldemort tut behind him.

"No Draco, no magic in this act", he smiled.

Draco was still being punished, Voldemort didn't utterly trust him just yet no matter what he said and he still had to prove himself.

Draco swallowed down the vomit that had risen up into his mouth. He might as well have been asked to rape her; the feeling of disgust would have been the same.

He removed her skirt first, pulling it down gently and tossing it aside. Hermione sobbed quietly but didn't move. She remained in the same spot Blaise had dropped her into on the stone slab, her eyes staring past Draco as if she was no longer there.

Then he removed her shoes and socks, her bare feet so small and delicate, closed together tightly as if trying to shut him out. Hermione muffled a louder sob.

Then he removed her jumper and t-shirt all at once, pulling them roughly over her head before she was left in just her bra and underwear. Now she was crying loudly and beginning to struggle.

Draco pinned her arms by her side and tore her bra off, cringing as he did so when she tried to cover herself with her hands.

"Please stop", she whispered at him, her mouth so close to his ear, as he stood between her legs.

"I can't", he whispered back, moving his fingers down her abdomen to finger the soft cotton of her underwear, "I'm sorry".

He ripped the fabric away and then stood back, his deed having been done. He tried hard not to vomit, it would give everything away. He set his face into a look of grim determination and turned to glance at Voldemort and the others.

His mother managed to look someway disgusted, his father looked irritated with his son and Draco felt that some things never changed; no matter what he did he would always be a disappointment. Bellatrix was smiling wickedly and Blaise was looking at Hermione as if she was something to eat. Draco made a mental note to make sure he never got near her.

"Chain her down", commanded Voldemort, waving his hand impatiently.

Draco moved back towards Hermione and pushed her back onto the cold stone slab, he tried to do the decent thing and avoid looking at her body but he couldn't.

He was surprised, given the circumstances, to find his eyes raking over her figure and drinking every inch of her in.

Her breasts were average sized but perky and Draco repressed the urge to take them in his hands and massage them until he heard her moan. Her svelte body was curvy in all the right places and he was surprised to find that Hermione kept herself neatly shaven. He groaned inwardly to himself, if things were different, he would have taken her for himself by now. He tried to quell images of him ravishing her on the table as they were causing him extreme discomfort and get back to the situation at hand. But he promised himself that before their story was over, he would take her completely and make love to her the way she deserved.

He pulled her hands up to the head of the slab and slid the manacle over her wrist, securing it tightly by clicking the mouth of the serpent coiled around it shut. He did the same with her legs and after it was over, Hermione was spread-eagled on the slab, naked as the day she was born.

Draco let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

Voldemort stepped forward, "Now Draco, I imagine you are wondering my intention on placing this mudblood in such...a state".

Draco nodded, his gaze never leaving Hermione's body. She was staring at the ceiling, no longer squirming but he could see her fists clenched tightly and her jaw set in a tight line.

"I'm going to place the Dark Mark on her".

Draco turned to him abruptly, his hands falling limply by his sides, "You're...you're what?"

"My Lord no, she is not worthy. She is not one of us". Bellatrix was appalled, she who had worked hard to earn her mark was furious to learn a mudblood was considered worthy to receive it.

"I will not be told how to make my decisions Bellatrix, my most loyal follower, you doubt that I don't understand my actions?" hissed Voldemort at her clearly annoyed.

"No my Lord...I was just saying..." she continued, bowing in submission.

"The Dark Mark causes extreme discomfort to those who receive it, as you all know", he turned back towards the rest of the group ignoring Bellatrix's stuttering apologies, "But none of you know what it can do to someone who is unworthy to wear it".

Draco indeed knew the mark was painful and there was not much reprieve to be had from it but this was something he had never heard of.

"When someone who is not a true follower of mine at the time of taking the mark, the pain is so extreme I have seen some people rip themselves in half from sheer agony".

"You wonder how I can tell who is worthy to follow me and who is not, this method is the most effective. If they are unworthy, the mark will punish them. They do not all die but to live with it, is to live a cursed life".

"What do you mean? A cursed life?" said Draco slowly, his blood running cold and the urge to vomit returning with full force until he had to bite his lip and draw blood just to distract himself.

"Firstly, almost constant and unbearable pain, secondly nobody can even attempt to understand their plight. They are both for me and against me and therefore isolated from everyone else, unable to be on one side or the other. Thirdly", Voldemort smiled, "Personality reversal, violence and aggression become second nature to them. Their life is altered forever, with nobody to turn to".

Draco swallowed loudly, this is what would happen to her and there was nothing he could do about it. He had resigned her to this.

_No, _said the voice of reason in his head, _Ginny did this to her in essence. Remember before this is over to kill the fucking whore._

"Enough time has been wasted", Voldemort raised his wand and walked slowly towards Hermione as if there was a sudden rush and Draco wondered if he was aware of something the rest of them weren't.

"You can't do this", muttered Draco but he paused immediately after he had spoken as he realised what Voldemort truly wanted to come out of this, "You think she will die?"

"I'm almost certain the agony alone will tear her to pieces and we shall watch and rejoice in her demise and everyone shall see what we have achieved here", said Voldemort not even turning back to face Draco.

Draco didn't get any time to ponder over these words, he had far more pressing anxieties.

Voldemort leaned over Hermione as she lay silent on the slab.

Draco moved forwards, needing to see Hermione's face, to tell her that no matter what kind of cursed life she led, he would be there; he was cursed himself after all. But of course, he could say nothing, only stand behind her head and hope that she knew he was there.

Voldemort raised his wand and recited three simple words under his breath and then laid his wand on Hermione's left forearm and Draco watched in horror as the black snake began to coil under her skin. After only a few seconds the snake turned red, as if it was rejecting being grafted onto her skin, and Hermione began to scream.

Draco's blood curdled as she screamed and writhed under the spell. Her body was rejecting the mark just as the mark was rejecting her. This was what Voldemort had meant about her loyalties being split in half. She was neither one thing nor the other. A red mark, the wrong colour to begin with, on a disloyal body. It was going against the nature of the mark itself.

But Draco would not let Hermione tear herself to pieces; he couldn't because now he needed her in his life.

Then another scream joined in with Hermione's and Draco turned away from the horrifying sight before him to see the Order had burst into the room. This time Harry and Ron were leading them, they had come back. Voldemort's enigmatic statements made complete sense; his mind was linked to Harry's. He had seen them coming.

"What a thing to come back to", muttered Draco before pulling his wand.

Voldemort turned, his wand breaking contact with Hermione's skin but the damage had been done, the mark was in place and the snake coiled around the skull, a bright blood red.

Draco didn't care; he began unshackling the still moaning Hermione, his hands trembling uncontrollably, "It's alright. It's over".

"Is it?" she whispered in reply, falling limp into his arms when he picked her up from the slab and held her tightly. He could feel her life ebbing away, the mark was sucking everything out of her. Draco knew this would happen, it happened to all of them and if she let it, it would kill her before it did anything else.

The Order was engaged in battle but this time they were evenly matched. The death eaters hadn't seen this coming.

"They came", Hermione croaked, "I told them where we were going".

Draco sighed and quelled the urge to laugh, they had given up on her but she had refused to give up on them. She had known they would need help and the Order had responded.

Draco knew Harry and Ron's presence would have had something to do with this, they knew Hermione better than any of the Order and they would have refused point black to resign her to this life.

Voldemort disapparated, roaring in anger as the wand he held crumbled. Bellatrix was battling Lupin who hit her with _Petrificus Totalus._

Blaise was caught in the face with a harsh _stupefy_ curse and Draco watched Harry battle with Ginny, trying to plead with her to come. In the end he grabbed her around the middle.

Lucius and Narcissa had run as soon as trouble had come calling, for once Draco was glad.

"Get the fuck away from her". Ron bounded over to Draco, who was still standing up beside the stone slab; his wand held aloft, "I'll curse you".

"Do that and I'll drop her, you moron. I won't leave her with you", said Draco angrily.

Harry threw Ginny into Lupin's arms and motioned for the others to get out. He ran across the room to where Ron's wand was still pointing into Draco's face.

"Let go of her Malfoy", he took his place next to Ron, but without raising his wand upon seeing Draco was unarmed.

"Like it or not Potty you need me", his gaze flickered to Hermione's arm where the red mark still glared angrily at them, "You need me so that you know how to deal with this new problem. I take it you haven't seen Ginny's mark yet".

They faltered and Draco almost felt bad for raining on their hero parade.

"I don't give a fuck", snarled Ron.

Almost felt bad.

"You should give a fuck, you need me and you know it", he was staring only at Potter, knowing if he was going to reason with anyone, it had to be him, "Potter, she's dying already".

Harry's eyebrows raised about two inches.

"Please", Hermione's voice could barely be heard over the din, "I need him".

That did it, if they hadn't listened before they were listening now. Draco's heart melted, no matter what happened she had never been able to give up on him completely no matter what she might say. Draco was hit with the full force of his feelings for her and her obvious feelings for him in that moment. He had never been needed by someone so much and had never felt that if she wasn't there, his whole life would crumble around him.

"Come on", said Harry motioning to Draco, "We have to get out of here before any more of them turn up".

Draco shoved past Ron and his idiotic, open-mouthed expression.

"It's okay Granger", he whispered as he followed Harry out of the house and down to the stone courtyard, "I'm here".

"Don't leave me", she whispered in response, unconsciousness finally claiming her.

"I won't", he said his eyes burning with tears he could never shed over a girl whose life he had just ruined and even though she could no longer hear him, he said it anyway.

"I love you".


	11. Chapter 11

**Review!**

**Chapter Ten-Change**

**Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature-Friedrich Nietzsche**

SMACK

The sound of Ron's fists smacking against Draco's face reverberated through the air. Draco had landed with Hermione encased safely in his arms, a difficult feat when apparating, holding her as gently as he would a child. But she had been unceremoniously snatched out of his hands as soon as he had landed on the hard ground of the surrounding fields of the Burrow.

He couldn't see where she had been taken to and it unnerved him, even with the blows inflicted by Weasley. Eventually, he had enough and with lightening quick reflexes grabbed Ron's fist holding it tightly in his own and waiting for the bastard to yell in pain.

"Hit me again Weasley and I swear to you right now, I will beat you to death". Draco even with his lips swollen and bloody and one eye beginning to close was an intimidating thing to behold.

"I'd like to see you try", snarled Ron, wrenching his fist out of Draco's grasp but moving quickly away from him in the process.

Draco stood unsteadily to his feet, "Go ahead then, hit me again and we'll see what I do", he scowled at him and then grimaced at the pain in his left eye.

Harry came running out from the house towards them, panting harshly, "I told you not to Ron", he wheezed. "I told you not to hit him".

"I couldn't help it", grunted Ron, cradling his fist which was bruising rapidly and Draco suppressed a smile.

"Where is she?" he said directing his gaze to Harry.

"Mrs Weasley is washing her and dressing her", said Harry motioning for Draco to walk with him towards the house.

Ron intervened, grabbing Draco's shoulder. "Hold on, who said he wasn't our prisoner?"

"Get the fuck off me", grunted Draco shoving Ron's hands away, you need me remember. I'm not going to fucking do anything while you have her here".

"I've forgotten why we need you already", growled Ron, "Let's say we just kill you now".

"Then you deal with Ginny and Hermione on your own then. You who has no idea what they are going to be like now", said Draco raising his eyebrows, "Is she awake yet?" He turned back to Harry.

Harry shook his head.

"He's right Ron, we need him. Ginny is..." Draco watched as he stumbled over what to say next and suddenly felt an ounce of respect for him. If he was half in love with Ginny as Draco was with Hermione, then this must be killing him. At least Draco was a death eater so he knew what Hermione had been involved in, Potter was whiter than white and now Ginny was almost Draco's equal. She was everything Potter had fought against and he knew it too.

This explained his leniency towards Draco at least.

"Right, so you take me to her", said Draco beginning to stomp towards the house.

"First, you can answer some questions of ours and we can bring Hermione to you so that we can all see her", said Harry, "That is the condition".

Draco paused before the door, unwilling to go in first in case anyone else decided to punch his lights out.

"A word of warning Potter. Don't try to interrogate either of them; we don't take kindly to being shoved into talking".

"You say 'we' as if they are like you", said Ron from behind him, "They are nothing like you or any of them".

Draco turned and eyed Ron with reluctant pity, "If you don't accept that they are then what is about to happen is going to give you the shock of your life".

"Moody filled me in briefly in your last stay with the Order and Hermione's behaviour", he eyed Ron carefully, "Her behaviour towards you anyway".

"I bet he told you she was acting like she had been turned, well Potter if you believe nothing else I say for the rest of the evening then just understand that Hermione was never turned it was only Ginny". Draco said it slowly, trying to temper the blow for Potter but knowing that it didn't matter what he said, he would see it for himself.

Harry swallowed slowly and then nodded, resigning himself to what was to come. He walked in first, entering the cramped kitchen.

Tonks, Lupin, Fred and George, Mr and Mrs Weasley lined the kitchen from where Draco could see. Moody, however, jumped on him the second he walked in.

"How many times do I have to tell you to let go of me?" said Draco tiredly, shrugging out of Moody's grasp.

"Let go of him, we need him and he is the reason we got Hermione out of there", said Harry nodding at Moody.

"I don't think so Mr Potter, Hermione went back with him. She told us so in her note, she wanted to get Ginny out but you tell me that he didn't know the death eaters would ambush them the second they arrived", snarled Moody, cracking his knuckles menacingly.

"I didn't fucking know and I didn't fucking know she would be branded either". Draco was getting annoyed at these idiots now. When would they finally realise that Hermione was on their side? But, he realised, she wasn't really anymore.

"Well, sit down and tell us what you know before I decide to rearrange your smarmy features", said Moody, wrestling Draco into a chair, "Talk".

"Only if you ask nicely", smirked Draco, "And not before I see her".

"She's sleeping but I'm telling you, she's quite safe", said Mrs Weasley with more tenderness than Draco had anticipated. His cold heart melted slightly.

"And Ginny?"

Mrs Weasley suppressed a shudder, "She isn't my daughter at the moment. We had no choice but to sedate her". She sobbed quietly and turned into her husband's shoulder.

"Well, let's see", said Draco comforted by the knowledge that Hermione was at least safe, "You already think she has been turned. Well she hasn't and that much is obvious by the mark on her skin. It's the wrong colour". He lifted his own sleeve and showed off his own jet black mark.

"I believe hers is bright red. The Dark Lord explained that the mark has rejected her and now she is split. She will be neither for nor against the death eaters but a conflicted self", said Draco. "That is where you need me since only I, out of all of you, know what it is like to be that conflicted. I have seen and tried to be a part of both sides and I have failed to belong anywhere".

"Cry me a river", muttered Ron rolling his eyes.

"I get that you won't understand most of what I'm saying Weasley but do try and keep up", retorted Draco angrily, "It won't save them".

"So Ginny has been turned?" said Harry gravely.

"Yes, she snitched on me. Well, me and Hermione. She told the Dark Lord that my feelings towards Hermione had changed and she showed him how I helped Hermione escape, she very nearly got us both killed but I can lie spectacularly when I have to".

"I bet you can", said Ron.

"When you have something worth contributing to the conversation, I'll listen. Until then, shut the fuck up", said Draco not even bothering to look at him this time.

"What do you mean she showed him?" said Lupin suddenly.

"Legilimency since she was there, Hermione was in Ginny's cell trying to get her to leave and she wouldn't. This was back when you all decided not to believe anything Hermione or I said and now Ginny is branded. She would have avoided that fate for sure if you had all just listened", said Draco angrily.

The room went silent and Draco could see that nobody had bothered to impart this information to Harry and Ron.

"You tried to get them both out?" said Harry.

"Yes but Ginny wouldn't come and I had to think about getting Hermione out before it was too late".

"And you told the Order Ginny would be branded?" said Harry.

"No, Hermione did that but they wouldn't listen to her. They thought she had been turned", said Draco.

"And why did they think that?" said Ron.

"Because she has feelings for me".

Nobody said anything for the longest time and Draco was damned if he was going to break the silence. He hadn't used the word love since he had no idea if she even loved him and he was determined to keep his love for her a secret. Eventually, Ron stood to his feet.

"She...she what?"

"She has feelings for me", said Draco meeting his eye dead-on, willing him to scoff.

"Is this true?" he turned back to Lupin and Moody, "After all, you were both there. Let me remind you though, it was around the time you refused to listen to anything she had to say and now my sister is branded".

"We thought he had brainwashed her into loving him, we didn't realise that Ginny was going to be branded you have to know that anything Hermione said sounded like lunacy", said Lupin.

"But you didn't listen even before you discovered she had feelings for me", said Draco, "You didn't want to believe it".

"I don't want to believe it", said Ron darkly, "Do you have feelings for her?"

Draco didn't answer.

"I'll ask again since you didn't hear me, do you have feelings for her?"

"Yes, but nothing strong", said Draco quietly not meeting his gaze in case his eyes gave him away, "But she doesn't know it and I don't intend on telling her if that's what you're worried about".

Draco hadn't even finished his sentence before Ron had launched himself across the table, ready to pummel every inch of Draco he could find.

Harry caught him by the collar and pulled him back, "No, Ron. We still need him".

Ron was panting continued to struggle until Fred and George stepped in to wrestle him away and throw him down into another chair.

"I'm not leaving this room when she eventually comes down. I want to see this with my own eyes", he said glaring at Draco.

"Be my guest but you won't like what she will say", said Draco folding his arms.

In truth Draco didn't think he would like what she said. Part of Hermione's appeal had been that she was nothing like the other women of his acquaintance. He had needed her not to remind him of the world he hated.

He took a deep breath and rubbed his temples. _Take stock_ said his mind.

_Hermione has been branded. The mark has rejected her and now she will be conflicted. Well...he was conflicted, he would know how to handle her now. But he couldn't change it. He couldn't take her mark away and he was sure that hurt the most. Ginny was branded and a true death eater and now she was here, without Blaise. Potter had no idea how much she loved Blaise and how she had abandoned her supposed love completely. And now he was here, back with the Order and they were never going to listen to him unless he helped._

_How was he going to help?_

_He would have to become a snitch._

Draco shuddered visibly, knowing he would have to tell them what he knew. Not that it was very much; most of what he had learned had been by eavesdropping.

He knew there was going to be a battle.

He had no idea when and there was only one person who was now privy to anything of use. Draco had spent too much time distracted by Hermione and away from Malfoy Manor.

Ginny would know.

If she had snitched to the Dark Lord, he would have considered her worthy. She had been branded, he trusted her now and that meant telling her things.

She would have to be interrogated and Draco would have to do it.

This was all getting to complicated.

All he really knew was that he had to speak to Hermione find out the extent of the damage and he would have t question Ginny as soon as she was awake.

He hoped the battle wasn't about to happen in the next 24hours especially if that was all he had now.

Thankfully, he wouldn't have to wait long to speak to Hermione. The room went very still all of a sudden when up to now it had been filled with quiet whisperings that Draco had been impervious too while his own thoughts swirled in his head.

Hermione was standing at the bottom of the staircase, staring at them all with wide-eyes.

Her dressing gown was wrapped tightly around her and her hair cascaded down her shoulders in soft waves. Draco thought she had never looked more beautiful and he made a silent wish that she was unchanged.

Then Hermione narrowed her eyes shrewdly and her look darkened.

"Okay, so tell me what the fuck I am doing here of all places with all of you", she smirked folding her arms and leaning nonchalantly against the banister, "Then Draco and I can talk about getting me the fuck out of here".

Clearly nobody was listening to his wish.

**Review**


	12. Chapter 12

**WARNINGS: GRAPHIC SCENES**

**Also please go and read ****_Through My Eyes_****, if you love Dramione you will love it and it is way more twisted and smut filled than this story!**

**Review**

**PurelyPoison**

**Chapter Twelve-Screwed**

**"My conception of freedom- The value of a thing sometimes does not lie in that which one attains by it but in what it costs us"-Friedrich Nietzsche**

Nobody said anything for what seemed like...well...years in Draco's head. In actual fact, it was probably only three or four minutes but all of the Order were staring at Hermione as if seeing her for the first time. She, however, apparently completely unfazed by their obtrusive staring continued to watch Draco's face with a fierce intensity that made him want to squirm under her gaze.

Draco was marvelling in how much he wanted her in that moment. He knew he loved her, that part was obvious, but this Hermione...this different Hermione-well she was something else altogether.

"Won't you sit down dear?" Mrs Weasley eventually stuttered but her polite offer was stilted. She was having trouble thinking of this person as Hermione.

She gestured towards a chair at the end of the table but Hermione, after raising her eyebrows in amusement, moved and took a seat next to Draco. She didn't take her eyes off of his as she took her place-as if sitting next to him was the most natural thing in the world. He was smirking at her and shockingly to him-that is precisely what she was doing back.

She tore her gaze from his after several more minutes had passed, "Could we hurry up please, this mark is torturing me and I'm getting fucking tired of it".

"Are you in pain?" Ron said quietly, lifting himself from the chair he had been forced into by Fred and George, and moving tentatively towards her.

She looked at him mockingly, "What the fuck do you think?"

Draco laughed and she in turn grinned.

"It hurts all the fucking time Weasley, I could have told you that", said Draco his eyes now back to focusing on Hermione.

"I wasn't talking to you", said Ron through clenched teeth.

"Then don't talk to me", said Hermione simply.

Ron went quiet. This must have been strange for him but Draco was too busy enjoying himself to feel much pity.

"I don't get it", said Harry, "She seems...well she seems different but she isn't in sheer agony from what I can tell?"

"You can't tell very much then can you?" said Hermione smiling mockingly.

"Well, I'm just going by an appearance, that's all". Harry muttered uncomfortably.

"If you keep bringing it up, it makes it worse. So shut the fuck up", she shouted suddenly standing to her feet and clenching her fists.

It was as if a bomb had gone off, everyone was now standing to attention and those with wands were pointing them straight into Hermione's face.

Nobody moved.

Draco chuckled, never having moved from his seat, "Oh sit the fuck down all of you, stop overreacting. What is some unarmed girl in her dressing gown really going to do?"

"I could do more than you anyway", said Hermione turning to him with her eyes blazing.

"Maybe later, I'll let you try", he replied still smiling good-humouredly, "Now sit back down so everyone's heart rates can return to normal".

She smiled and laughed before sitting back down next to him and turning to stare at the group as if her outburst had never happened.

"What's put you in such a good mood?" said Harry, lowering his wand and addressing Draco.

Draco smiled, "I've figured out what's going on here and I have to say, I'm pretty happy about it". He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.

"Care to impart your wisdom on us?" growled Ron.

"If I was to begin imparting wisdom on you Weasley, I'd be here for the next decade", retorted Draco.

"Why am I still here?" said Hermione angrily, "Seriously, like what the fuck?" She was looking at Draco waiting for an answer and to the amazement of everyone he laughed again.

"Calm the fuck down, you aren't in any danger here but you have to wait patiently for everyone else to catch up".

"Get on with it then Potter, ask her what you want to ask her", Draco finished.

Harry and Ron took a seat opposite Draco and Hermione, making everyone feel as if this was a private affair and they were intruding.

The others spread out around the table. Fred and George were sent away by Mr Weasley to keep an eye on Ginny.

"I will bring Draco to question her later", Lupin told them.

As soon as the door closed, Harry sighed and his shoulders slumped.

"I don't even know what to ask", he said quietly.

Draco snorted.

"Well, let's try to determine Hermione's state of mind first", said Lupin smiling at her as if she was a three year-old, "Do you know what has happened to you?"

"Is he kidding?" said Hermione turning to Draco.

Draco laughed again, thoroughly enjoying himself "Not at all, I told you that you had to give them time to catch up. Just answer the questions it will make this whole thing go faster".

Hermione, appeased and calmed by his words, lifted her left forearm onto the table and pulled back the sleeve. The angry, red-mark wasn't burning as intensely as it had been. In fact, the red had receded to a darker shade and it looked less intimidating.

"Is this what you are referring to?" she asked with her eyebrows raised.

Mrs Weasley sobbed quietly but Hermione ignored her.

"Yes, that was...that was what I was referring to", said Lupin, shocked to see it in all its glory. "Hermione, we need to determine your mental state so I need to ask you some questions. Will you answer them truthfully or will I have to use force?"

"Touch her and I'll fucking kill you", said Draco menacingly, leaning forward in his chair, "I mean it half-breed. I've had enough of watching people man-handle her to last me a lifetime".

Lupin said nothing in return, he didn't need to. Hermione had moved her left hand to rest on Draco's arm, immediately calming him. He settled back into his seat, reassured by her touch that what he suspected was true.

"Are you..." Lupin was struggling to phrase this and Draco knew what the question was before he had finished, "Do you feel loyalty to Lord Voldemort?"

"Fuck no, he gave me this fucking tattoo", she said grimacing. Lupin breathed a sigh of relief but Hermione wasn't finished.

"Don't think that means I'm loyal to your fucking side. You're the bastards that caused all of this. If you had just listened to me in the first place, Ginny wouldn't have been branded and neither would I".

Lupin nodded at Draco, "Conflicted self, you said that. Neither for nor against".

"Oh that part you listened to, that's good", said Draco mockingly, refusing to meet Lupin's eye.

"How do you feel Hermione?" Lupin continued.

"Honestly?" she asked, "I'm in fucking pain for one thing. I want to claw this fucking table apart with my bare hands just to make it stop. I feel like killing all of you for getting me into this mess in the first place and I want to go back and kill all of them for making it worse. I hate all of you and I hate all of them. I feel like I'm torn in half".

"That's a start", said Lupin.

"When will you all get it? This is actually infuriating to watch", Draco raised his eyes to heaven and waited for them to catch on.

"The pain isn't killing her", said Harry quietly, his eyes widening.

"Thank you Potter for at least proving that you aren't completely useless. The pain isn't killing her", said Draco wishing he could beat them senseless for their stupidity.

"Should it be?" said Hermione.

"Yes, Voldemort wanted you to tear yourself to pieces. That was the whole idea of you being branded. He said and I'm paraphrasing but you get the gist..._Firstly unbearable pain, secondly isolated from everyone by failing to be on one side or the other and thirdly personality reversal, violent and aggressive. Their life is altered forever with nobody to turn to"_.

Draco finished his little speech and then stared at them all incredulously.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me", he muttered rolling his eyes "It's like talking to infants".

"Okay so unbearable pain is now bearable", said Harry at least attempting to understand, "She isn't on one side or the other but she isn't isolated because we are loyal?"

"Not quite right but go on", said Draco gesturing for him to continue.

"Violent and aggressive, okay I can see where that might come into it and an altered life because she has...oh", Draco watched as the lone, cobweb filled light-bulb in Potter's head slowly flickered to life.

"Now, you get why I'm so happy", said Draco turning back to look at Hermione, "And she didn't even need to say anything".

"Could somebody please explain what the fuck is going on?" said Ron.

"Oh shut up, you lower the IQ of the whole room when you talk", said Hermione abruptly turning to him.

Draco felt gleeful when he watched Ron's mouth snap shut as if he had been burned.

"Care to explain?" said Lupin motioning to Draco.

"Well Potter got some of it", said Draco, "The whole idea of the mark rejecting her is coupled with the fact that it should isolate her. She is in pain, conflicted and belongs nowhere in theory".

"Unfortunately, what Voldemort didn't anticipate but I figured out long before any of you is that Hermione isn't isolated at all. In fact, there is someone in this very room that is just as conflicted as she is, going through almost the same pain, violent and aggressive in nature and to top it all off is the only person she can now turn to".

"You", said Harry.

"Me", smirked Draco.

"That is why she is coping with this. Because she has you, you're a kindred spirit so to speak and you are the reason she doesn't feel isolated", said Lupin nodding slowly.

Draco nodded back, "Well done".

"That's why she is drawn to you", said Harry, "She had feelings for you when she was branded and that has impacted how she copes with the mark now".

"I knew you weren't as stupid as you always looked", said Draco nodding at him.

"Why are you so conflicted though? As far as I was aware, you were a pretty loyal death eater?" said Harry narrowing his eyes.

"Having feelings for someone you are supposed to hate will do that to you", said Draco briefly wondering if Potter would understand this when he saw Ginny.

Hermione then spoke up, "Excuse me, while you are all talking about me like I'm not fucking here. I never said I had feelings for you". She turned to Draco.

"Go ahead and say you don't then", he replied calmly.

"Fuck off", she muttered lowering her gaze.

"Is there a chance this is what Ginny will be like?" said Harry hopefully, drawing Draco's gaze away from Hermione.

"About time we found out Potter but...and not to enjoy your misery or anything but I doubt it. She was loyal to Voldemort when she took the mark, therefore it will have accepted her".

Harry merely nodded, getting to his feet.

"Mrs Weasley, would you mind if I went in to speak to her with just Malfoy? I don't think I could really talk to her with everyone watching me", he said solemnly.

"Of course dear", she nodded, her eyes brimming with tears.

"I'm going to go and talk to Ginny", said Draco to Hermione, "You have to stay here".

"Why can't we fucking leave?" she pleaded.

"Where would we go?" he said smiling.

"I don't even care", she replied, folding her arms, "Anywhere would be better".

Draco got to his feet and before he could think, he planted a kiss on the top of her head. Ron looked away in disgust but Hermione grabbed Draco's arm.

"You make sure that bitch is really turned. If she snitched on us and she isn't even one of them, I'll fucking kill her myself", she gripped his wrist tightly and waited until Draco nodded before removing her hand and turning away from him.

"She's in her old room", said Mr Weasley, opening the door of the kitchen and letting Draco and Harry walk out, before closing it behind them.

"Just one thing Malfoy", said Harry pausing in the hallway noting the absence of Fred and George, "Try to remember she was mine before she was one of you".

"Try to remember Potter that as long as Hermione is like this, I'm going to be there and afterwards too. You won't be getting rid of me so you better get used to me".

"You love her", said Harry quietly.

"Don't fucking tell anyone", said Draco not bothering to deny it but beginning to climb the stairs to Ginny's room.

It took them five whole minutes to get her to stop screaming, after that they were met with impenetrable silence.

Harry pleaded with her, reasoned with her and even tried to get her to remember her life before Blaise but she remained impassive.

Eventually, Draco had had enough.

"Come on Potter, this stupid little bitch is useless to us. Blaise told me she was like this", he said turning back to the door.

"Blaise said what?" said Ginny suddenly, her voice hoarse from screaming.

Harry couldn't even berate Draco for speaking to her like that; he had gotten her to talk.

He tried to speak to her again but she waved him away.

"What the fuck did he say?"

"He said you were useless, whiny and annoying. I'm beginning to see that for myself. Potter we aren't going to get anywhere here". Draco patted Harry's shoulder signalling him to come with him.

"I'm not annoying", she pouted. "He fucking hits me. He never used to but now he thinks it's the best way to teach me my place and I'm trying to learn".

Blaise always did have a way with women and as far as Draco knew, Blaise dealt with women the way he thought they deserved. Why should Ginny be any different?

"Well, there is an interesting way that you can get back at him", said Draco ponderously moving back into the room and pulling Potter out of the way before he hindered any progress Draco was making.

"Really?" her eyes brightened at this and Draco wondered for the first time how badly Blaise had treated her the second she had been turned.

"Well...now don't tell him I said anything", he said secretively.

Ginny nodded obediently and Draco quelled the urge to hit her himself.

"You can tell me what you've been talking about with him, about the plans", he raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Ginny bit her lip and her look grew dark.

"Don't worry about any harm coming to him", he put his right hand behind his back and crossed his fingers, "I swear that whatever you tell me, no harm will come to Blaise".

Blaise was going to die, pity to lie to the girl. Seeing him eye Hermione as she lay naked on the stone slab, lust in his eyes, had helped Draco to make up his mind.

"Well...I know there is to be a battle", she began.

"I know that part", said Draco waving his hand impatiently.

"Did you know they plan on drawing them back to Malfoy Manor and ambushing them?" Ginny said smugly speaking as if Harry wasn't in the room and Draco wondered if she even really _saw _Harry.

"No, that I didn't know", Draco was thinking furiously and he hoped Potter was taking fucking mental notes.

"Well, they know you will have to go back because you are one of them and so am I. They are expecting us to overpower everyone here since we are so unprotected and they are loyal to me. Then as soon as they come looking for us; BANG".

Draco felt Harry jump behind him and rolled his eyes.

"They will be outnumbered like the last time", Ginny finished, giggling lightly. She leaned forward and whispered excitedly, "Let me know as soon as you can, when we are leaving".

Draco realised she was acting like she was insane. She really believed they would overpower everyone here and return?

Was she fucking mad?

Instead of voicing any of this, he nodded at her and smiled, "I promise", he replied. She seemed blissfully unaware at his lack of a wand.

"And nothing will happen to Blaise?" she said, suddenly worried.

"Nothing", said Draco, pulling Potter out of the room, "Be good now, you won't be here long".

Ginny nodded and lay back down on the bed, singing softly to herself.

The mark had addled her brain.

"What the fuck was that about?" said Harry finally finding his voice and Draco was disgusted to see his eyes had filled with tears.

He looked away, unable to see Potter like that.

"Just make sure she doesn't get a hold of a wand", said Draco, "She's dangerous. The impact of everything on her mind has been pretty damaging. We need to attack Malfoy Manor before she gets impatient and goes back herself. You know as well as I do that if she succeeds, the others will go straight after her and walk right into a trap".

Draco was suddenly exhausted.

"Look Potter, could you go down and explain all of this. I really just...I can't be fucking bothered", he ran a hand through his already tousled hair, "Is there somewhere I can just go and sleep?"

Harry nodded, "Go into Ron's room. I'll tell him".

Draco didn't relish the idea of sleeping in Ron's room but, it was better than nothing.

He patted Harry's shoulder awkwardly, "Try to accept that you've lost her. With her mind like that, trying to get her to come back to your side would be like brainwashing her all over again and with the mark mucking up her thoughts, it just wouldn't work".

"I can't accept that though", said Harry lowly, staring at the floor.

"You don't have much of a choice", said Draco moving up the stairs to the top floor.

He collapsed on the bed they had made up for Harry in Ron's room. He couldn't sleep anywhere Ron had been, it would be like sleeping with the enemy.

He smiled into the pillow and waited for sleep to find him.

The door creaked open slowly before sleep even had a chance to take hold.

"Weasley fuck off, I'm not even in your bed", he groaned not moving.

"I'm insulted that you think I sound anything like him", she said, shutting the door softly behind her.

Draco sat bolt upright finding Hermione standing before him, leaning against the door with her arms folded.

"What are you doing here?" he said.

"I don't have feelings for you", she said angrily.

"Oh Jesus", he replied, "I'm not having this conversation with you now".

"You aren't listening. I don't have feelings for you", she repeated.

"Yes I heard that", he retorted.

"I fucking love you", she said simply, "And I fucking hate that I feel this way".

Draco said nothing, choosing instead to stare at her.

"But there it is", she shrugged moving forwards slightly.

Draco got off the bed and stood to his feet, "And what? You want me to declare undying love for you and we both live happily ever after?"

Something flickered in Hermione's eyes as she remembered an argument they had so long ago about life not being a happy story.

"No, that isn't what I want. I don't want you to say anything", she retorted.

He folded his arms and raised his eyebrows, "Good because I'm not saying anything".

"I want you to show me", she said moving closer and Draco could hear her breath coming in short gasps.

"What?" he stuttered, his arms falling to his sides.

She undid her robe until it made a pool at her feet and her body, covered by the thinnest t-shirt Draco had ever seen, was exposed to him.

"I want you to show me that you love me", she said closing the gap between them and placing her hands on his chest, "Make love to me".

Draco didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him hungrily; kissing every inch of her he could reach with a fervour that he didn't know was in him.

His exhaustion was forgotten as she pulled off her t-shirt and roughly yanked his own over his head. She pushed him back onto the bed with an anger that aroused him to the point of pain. She kissed his stomach before removing his jeans and underwear.

He was rock hard begging to be inside her. He yanked her up from between his legs and guided her hips until she was straddling him. He kissed her roughly and twisted his fingers into her hair, pulling her head back.

"You're fucking mine now", he growled, biting her neck and moving down to kiss her collarbone.

She raised her hips until her core was poised just above his erection. She gazed into his eyes with such fire and passion that Draco was lost for several moments.

"Make love to me", she pleaded placing her mouth a mere inch above his.

Draco thrust his hips upwards until he was rammed deep inside of her. Hermione let out a low scream and a moan of pleasure which only made Draco harder. He gripped her hips tightly and began guiding her up and down his shaft, helping her to pick up speed.

He groaned her name, his fingers still entwined in her hair and his lips covering every part of her body he could reach before pulling her around so she was now pinned underneath him.

He massaged her breasts, kneading them between his fingers until her nipples were as erect as he was. He replaced his fingers with his tongue before thrusting in and out of her again; picking up speed until she screamed his name in ecstasy as he pushed her over the edge. He panted heavily, having reached his own climax, and laid his head on her chest while still buried within her, trying to catch his breath.

"I guess that's it then", she said finally, twisting her fingers into his hair breaking the spell of their love-making.

"What is?"

"We must love each other", she said seriously.

He nodded.

"We're fucking screwed now", she whispered.

Draco nodded, knowing it was true. There was no fucking way they would both make it through this battle alive and they both knew it in that moment.

No fucking way.


	13. Chapter 13

**This chapter needs no introduction...review.**

**Chapter Thirteen-Agony**

**One must pay dearly for immortality; one has to die several times while one is still alive-Friedrich Nietzsche**

Now what? The unspoken question reverberated around the room like a thick dust that wouldn't settle. It unnerved Draco because he knew that at some stage the question would have to be asked.

Hermione had detached herself from him not long after he had finally made love to her. Nothing more had needed to be said and he had let her go without an argument, untangling his limbs from hers without question. He, himself, had then managed to get some of that much coveted sleep but his dreams had been riddled with images of Hermione dying on that awful stone slab.

He had awoken abruptly before dawn to the sound of Harry's breathing as he lay in the bed next to him; Ron had obviously decided that being in the same room as Draco was more than he could bear. In truth, Draco was still reeling from the fact that Saint Potter was lying asleep in the same room; how things change.

Draco slipped quietly from the room, out of common courtesy and knowledge that he wasn't the only one who needed undisturbed sleep, only to encounter Ron on the stairway.

"Did you take my wand?" he asked angrily, before Draco was even finished pulling the t-shirt over his head. His clothes were crumpled from having slept in them but now was not the time to worry about appearances.

"What are you rambling about Weasley?" he muttered back under hooded eyes already wishing he had stayed in bed.

"My wand is missing and I noticed you didn't have one", snarled Ron, clenching his fists.

"Hitting me won't tell you where it is", retorted Draco, "And no, I don't have it. If I wanted to steal a wand believe me yours wouldn't be the first one I would think of".

He made to push past him but Ron grabbed his shoulder and shoved him roughly against the wall.

"Listen, Hermione may think that you are the new novelty but just wait, her fantasy about you will end soon enough and I'll be there when she realises you haven't changed at all". He spoke through gritted teeth and Draco could see that Hermione's transformation was hitting him hard.

He grabbed Ron's arm and pushed it away from him, straightening his clothes pointedly. "She wants me here whether you like it or not. Or do you want to add 'helping a branded muggle-born' to your list of failures?"

Ron was about to argue and Draco envisioned the whole thing turning into a bit of a punch up so he attempted to cut him off but Ron got there first.

"She was mine first", said Ron lowly, the realisation of Draco's mutual feelings for Hermione finally getting through to him.

"She isn't some sort of possession. I'm here for as long as she wants me to be, got it? And go and find your wand, if Ginny gets a hold of it we're all screwed", he started walking down the stairs when he heard Ron mutter behind him.

"Ginny isn't talking to anyone; she's holed herself up in her room".

Draco turned back to him, "Then I suggest someone checking on her".

"Whatever". Ron rolled his eyes and continued up the stairs, still searching for his wand completely ignoring Draco's suggestion.

Draco tried to imagine what would happen if he stood to one side and allowed Ron to pursue Hermione. His jaw tightened at the thought, to think of Ron touching her? No, that was too much to bear.

Draco kept walking until he came to a halt outside. The sun was just beginning to rise and the sky was tinged with a pinkish glow. Draco slumped down onto the grass, which was still dewy, and held his head in his hands.

What was he supposed to do now?

He couldn't possibly fight for them. Even as he said the words in his head, he realised he had absolutely no idea who 'them' was anymore. Was it the Order or the Death Eaters?

He couldn't even tell himself he would fight for her, at this moment in time she was more conflicted than he was. She loved him and a part of her hated herself for it and that was Draco's fault. If he had refused to capture her in the first place maybe none of this would have happened. But that wasn't right either, he could never have refused.

He should have hated loving her as much as she hated loving him but it felt...it felt right. Like it was the way things were supposed to be and the idea nauseated him. He was supposed to be the cynical one, the one who never believed in people never mind believing in love. Life has a pretty cruel sense of humour, he summed up, and it really fucks you over.

Perhaps he was supposed to die, like he had said so long ago when trying to convince her of how horrible life really was? Surely loving her would lead him nowhere else but an early grave. He had always thought death was a pretty plausible outcome for him in life but now...now it seemed death was the _only _outcome.

He sighed roughly; at least things would be easier.

Draco didn't know how long he sat with his head held in his hands but when he looked up again the sun had risen pretty high and he knew that he would have to face the world eventually.

"Malfoy?"

Speak of the devil, the world had come calling.

"What do you want Potter?" he said, his voice lacking the usual malice.

Harry came to a halt next to him but made no move to sit down, Draco was thankful, close proximity was different if you were unconscious but sitting next to Harry while awake and sober? No thank you.

"Ron and I have been hunting Horcruxes", said Harry solemnly and watching Draco's face for recognition.

"Am I supposed to know what the fuck that is?" said Draco angrily, not bothering to even lift his head.

"Well it's..." Harry hesitated.

"Look Potter, don't tell me anything I don't need to know if you'd rather not. I don't want to become best buddies with you even now", Draco said tiredly. "If what you've been doing will help defeat him, that's all I need to know and even then that's too much information".

"Alright", said Harry nodding in agreement, "We have to figure out what we're going to do next".

Draco wanted to sneer over the use of the word 'we' but decided against it and instead levelled with him.

"Any ideas on that score so far?"

"Well, everyone is saying we should attack them before they attack us but we need to be in Hogwarts so we can be properly protected. Dumbledore is there..." Harry trailed off.

"Oh yes my favourite person, I'm sure he's forgiven me for trying to kill him", laughed Draco without humour. "But he is the only one Voldemort is afraid of, that can't hurt".

"That's what I'm thinking", said Harry staring off into the horizon, "Dumbledore isn't going to hold anything against you".

"Potter, I often wonder. Why didn't you just kill me when you saw me disarm Dumbledore?" Draco's voice was filled with curiosity and he hated asking but he had to.

Harry shrugged, "I knew you wouldn't kill him and I sort of...felt bad for you. Ginny once said that we can't help our family and you were just born on the wrong side".

Draco laughed coldly, "Well she got one thing right anyway. We can't help our family".

"I guess that's why I didn't do anything; I figured what Voldemort would do to you, would be a lot worse. I'm assuming it was pretty bad", Harry stared down at the pale, blonde boy who had been his enemy for nearly six years now and waited for an answer.

"You think you've seen a lot of shit Potter and you have but you have never seen what it's like to be one of his followers. Believe me; we're talking Class A fucked up shit here". Draco paused, thinking about what Potter now had to face with Ginny. That was fucked up enough without him telling stories of the crazy shit he had seen.

Draco had to marvel at how Potter, who had fallen silent at his words, was handling everything. He hadn't flown into a rage, tried to hit anyone or anything and he hadn't once even raised his voice.

Draco would have torn the house to pieces by now and ripped everyone in it apart.

"So, that's where we are headed? Get out of here and go to Hogwarts?" said Draco, finishing the plan for Harry.

"Yes, as soon as we can get Ginny to open the door and talk to us", Harry replied sadly.

Draco's head perked up, "She still hasn't open the door? Why don't you just break it down?"

"We are trying to give her space so she can reconcile herself to being here", said Harry as if this made perfect sense.

"You should be breaking it down, I wouldn't trust her", said Draco, finally looking up at Harry.

"I do trust her", Harry growled, the first reaction Draco had gotten out of him.

Draco stood to his feet, towering over Harry's small frame. "You shouldn't, she's a death eater whether you want to believe it or not and if you don't go and get her, I will".

They stood and attempted to stare each other down for several more seconds until something in Draco's eyes made Harry stalk back into the house and straight up to Ginny's room. Draco didn't follow him but when he heard the door bang open; he knew Harry had had to use force.

Draco stepped into the kitchen, which was slowly filling with people given the early hour, at the same time Harry, Ron and Ginny emerged from the hallway.

Ginny smiled tentatively at them all before talking a seat and flashing a worried glance at Harry. He smiled warmly back at her.

Nobody moved. Mrs Weasley's mouth was agape as she took in her daughter. Fred and George were appraising her slowly from where they sat, saying nothing.

Eventually, Ginny spoke, "Sorry I was gone for so long Mum. I really missed you".

Then Mrs Weasley was launching herself across the room and pulling her daughter to her, laughing and crying at the same time.

Fred, George and Ron were grinning from ear to ear but Draco remained unsmiling.

This felt too wrong.

Hermione stalked into the room behind Ron, her cheeks still tinged pink and her hair tousled. Draco resisted the urge to take her and have her right there on the table.

"You found your wand then", she said coldly folding her arms and ignoring the sentimental scene in front of her as if it was unimportant.

Draco's eyes snatched to the wand now tucked into the waistband of Ron's jeans.

"Yea", he replied, still grinning at Ginny, "It was on the landing on the third floor all along".

"On the floor?" asked Draco suddenly. Hermione looked up at him as he spoke and her mouth parted slightly as she took in his form; the only sign that they had done anything untoward together at all.

Ron's eyes narrowed at him, "Yes, I must have missed it".

"But you still hadn't seen it by the time you cornered me and you were nearly on the top floor by that stage?"

"So? What is with the twenty questions Ferret?"

Draco's eyes flickered to Ginny and back to Ron again not even bothering to react to the insult, "Nothing".

Hermione rolled her eyes and came into the kitchen to take a seat next to Draco. His skin tingled at her close proximity but he said nothing, clenching his fists to stop from reaching out and touching her. He needed a clear head.

Mrs Weasley was busying herself with breakfast, tears of happiness still streaming down her face.

Draco couldn't take his eyes off Ginny. Something was...off about her expression. She smiled warmly and clutched Harry's hand but her eyes were telling a different story altogether; they were cold and unfeeling.

"Sudden change of heart then?" said Draco suddenly, beginning to piece together a theory.

Ginny started as if he had spoken sharply into her ear.

"I finally realised who I fight for", she smiled but it was cold and did nothing to temper Draco's suspicions as he saw her eyes flash in warning, narrowing shrewdly.

But then the look was gone and she was gazing at Harry with such devotion that Draco was sure he had to be imagining things.

Surely her acting wasn't that good.

_I was merely acting my Lord, getting her to trust me as you said I must_.

The words came rushing back to him as he remembered how he had behaved, how he had acted, when he had been stuck back with the Death Eaters just to make sure they hadn't killed Hermione.

He had performed his way to survival because he had known the worst was to come and he needed them to think he belonged there.

Draco raised his head again slowly, if he could trick Voldemort why couldn't Ginny trick her family who were so desperate to have her back?

If she had decided to start behaving this way it meant something was coming...and soon.

He stood suddenly to his feet, startling everyone around him.

"She's pretending", he said glaring steadily at Potter, willing him to understand and see past his love for Ginny to hear what he was saying. "She is still a death eater and she knows something".

"I'm getting about tired of you thinking you know best about everything", said Ron, squaring his shoulders as he moved to stand behind the happy couple.

"Death Eater stuff I know and she is still loyal to Voldemort. There is only one reason that we behave like this and that is to get people to trust us", said Draco, speaking quickly now.

Harry stood to his feet, "You're just creating trouble now Malfoy because she's managed to become one of us again, she's going against what you said about her and you hate that".

"You think I'm creating trouble? That's rich coming from the boy who invented trouble", said Draco raising his arms in frustration, "I'm telling you, something is coming and if we don't act now and get out of here then something is going to catch us completely unaware".

Nobody moved.

Hermione stood to her feet having remained silent thus far, "I'm with Draco on this one, if he says something is coming we should leave".

Her words didn't carry the weight they might once have done; they didn't trust her anymore while the red mark burned on her skin. Nobody was listening to her no more than they were heeding Draco.

It was as if the Weasley's were crowding together at the other side of the table. They viewed him and Hermione was one force not to be trusted rather than as individual people.

"Ask her then", said Draco, now glaring at Ginny who smiled serenely back at him.

"I don't know what you are trying to pin on me Malfoy but it won't work", she replied readily, as if she had expected him to suspect her. "You're paranoid".

Her tone of voice said it all, something was coming and she was anticipating it. That was why the lies were coming easily, why the act was so easy...she was waiting for something to happen and she expected it to happen soon.

"You..." but suddenly Draco roared and all thought fled his head in an instant. His arm was burning as if it had suddenly been dipped in acid. He swore loudly, wrenching the sleeve of his t-shirt up at the same time that Ginny uttered a scream and Hermione gasped in horror as the red mark on her arm glowed.

His mark was burning black, Voldemort was summoning Death Eaters. Something was happening.

"You've killed us all", he muttered at Ginny who was now standing to her feet, staring at him with wide eyes.

Before anyone could think a blast shook the house and its occupants who all fell straight to the floor as the windows exploded around them. The light blinded Draco temporarily as he tried to find Hermione from the floor.

The kitchen was already in chaos, blown to pieces from the impact of the blast. He crawled to his right finding the spot Hermione had been last.

Then suddenly she was there, grabbing his arm and shoving a wand into it.

"I don't know whose it is but you're going to need it", she screamed over the noise as several more bangs filled the house.

"Get your wands out", screamed Mrs Weasley from somewhere to Draco's left.

He held Hermione's gaze for a fraction of a second, trying to gauge her expression looking for fear but only being met with stoic calm.

"Come on", he attempted to pull her up but she pushed him away.

"My foot is caught under this stupid table, just go and start fighting. I'll be right out", she grunted at him, trying to move the table.

Draco was loathed having to leave her but the spells were already starting to fill the house as the Death Eaters attacked and he couldn't waste any more time.

"Don't die", he roared at her before leaping to his feet and launching himself outside of the tumbling house.

Voldemort wasn't here; he knew that straight away without even looking around. He had sent only a handful of Death Eaters. He had sent them for Draco and Ginny, to bring them back.

A scream resounded from the kitchen but Draco had no time to wonder if it was Hermione or not. Those who crawled out of the house were locked into battle straight away, Harry, Ginny and Hermione remained in the rubble. Draco counted Bellatrix, Lucius, Blaise, Crabbe, Rudolphus and Dolohov.

Voldemort had picked only his most sadistic followers as Draco noted his mother's absence.

Blaise came rushing forward out of nowhere, grabbing Draco's shoulder roughly. "Where is she?" His eyes blazed as he glared back into the now ruined kitchen.

"Why the fuck would I tell you?" said Draco, pulling away from him, "Your little bitch sold us all out".

"No, she sold the mudblood out. As I recall you are still one of us", Blaise growled, knowing full well that Draco's loyalty lay with Hermione.

"Doesn't change the fact that your girlfriend is a bitch", snarled Draco.

"Stop fooling around Draco, we have to go", he roared in response, dodging a red curse from Fred and firing one in return.

Draco turned briefly to glance inside what was left of the kitchen and all he saw was a tumbled mess of brown curls matted with blood before Ginny came hurtling out.

"Come on, this way", she screamed grabbing Blaise who in turn pulled Draco after him.

Draco struggled, "Hold on, Hermione". He tried to break free from Blaise's grip.

"She's dead", screamed Ginny.

Draco said nothing, he could feel nothing. This allowed Blaise to pull Draco along until they were standing on the grassy hill behind the Burrow, where they wouldn't be seen.

"Dead?" His voice sounded hollow as he said the word as if he had lost the ability to feel anything. They came out empty and not at all filled with the pain that was now seeping through his every pore.

Ginny smirked at him, "You came way too close you know to spilling my secret".

"How did you...?"

"I got Ron's wand last night, stupid fool that he is. I apparated back to Malfoy Manor early this morning; spoke to the Dark Lord who said I had to come back so that nobody would suspect anything but I had to be careful because you were too smart for your own good".

She said that plan as if it was the simplest thing in the world and in a way it was. Draco would have commended her for doing all of this right under the Order's eyes, if he had been able to think coherently beyond _Hermione is dead, Ginny did this._

"You were always a death eater", he said, his voice still maintaining that hollow sound as he urged his heart to believe Hermione was dead.

"Yes a very loyal one at that", she smiled at Blaise, holding his gaze lovingly, oblivious to the raging battle going on a few feet away that she had caused.

"Why did you kill her?" he finally managed to stutter, staring at them coldly.

She shrugged.

Just shrugged like it was nothing not knowing that in saying the words Draco's heart had burst into flame and melted.

Draco didn't even think for one second that she could be lying.

Instead, he raised his wand and pointed it straight at her.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" It came out anguished but determined, he was determined to see her die.

Blaise roared, emitting the kind of pain Draco was feeling and Draco knew then in that moment that he had taken away the only thing Blaise might ever have cared about excepting himself. He felt no sympathy or guilt.

But before Blaise had managed to utter the killing curse back, a jet of green light flew at him from Draco's left.

Hermione was standing there looking at him, her wand arm was raised; she had saved his life. Harry stood next to her, his eyes never wavering from Ginny's slumped form.

Hermione had her eyebrows raised in incredulity as she watched Draco, who spluttered and gasped at her presence.

He moved towards her but she made no move to go to him. Instead, when he stood before her she appraised him through confused eyes.

Harry's roar startled them out of their stupor, pulling Ginny to him and clutching her as he cried over her limp body.

"She was trying to change and you killed her", he screamed at Draco.

He had heard nothing of her confession and Draco couldn't bring himself to impart the details to him.

"Why would you do that?" said Hermione quietly.

"She said she had killed you", he replied still staring at her as if he couldn't believe she was there.

"She did nothing to me, I got knocked out by falling rubble", she said gesturing her bloody head. "You killed her Malfoy".

"I was right though, she was pretending", he pleaded with her to understand flinching at the use of his last name.

Harry screamed, "Don't try to justify what you've done".

"She was still a death eater?" said Hermione quietly so Harry wouldn't hear her. Draco nodded sadly, knowing it was useless, nobody had heard it.

Then she pushed Ginny's body away as quickly as she had pulled it towards her. "She was still my friend but she was a death eater".

Harry was picking up Ginny's body, trying to move her as far away from Blaise as possible.

"You killed her, Blaise was trying to take her back and you killed her", said Harry tears still rolling down his face, "You'll always be a death eater. You go back where you belong and you tell them that we will be waiting for them".

He turned to Hermione, Ginny still in his arms. "You choose, I don't care about the mark on your arm. You choose us or you choose him and get out of here". He walked away not bothering to turn back.

Hermione stretched her arm out and touched Draco's face. "You say she was still evil, she was only pretending. I believe you".

Draco studied her face slowly, "No", he said quietly. "You don't".

Hermione raised her eyebrows, "I'm telling you I do, I'm choosing you".

"I can see in your eyes that no matter what they did to Ginny, I'll always be the guy who killed her". The words made Draco want to break down and give up but despite what she said he knew they were true. Every time she looked at him now, this is what she would think about and it was all wrong.

He could be a death eater who stood alongside a conflicted, branded violent girl who had been wronged and hated everyone for what they had done to her and for good reason too.

But he couldn't _be _the reason.

"I can't stay here", he said finally, "I'm going to go back where I belong".

"What? No, I choose you. I choose a life where I can be with you" she said suddenly, her eyes filling with an urgent need to stop him.

"I'm a death eater that is who I am. Apparently. I just killed her without a seconds thought. What person do you know does that?" He slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"You did it because you thought she had killed me", said Hermione taking Draco's head in her hands and leaning her forehead against his.

"Exactly, I love you and that will lead me into more trouble than I know how to handle", he replied, closing his eyes at her touch, "I'll get you killed".

"No, don't say that. I'll come back with you", she murmured.

"Then they will kill you", he said sadly before moving to capture her mouth in his own.

His lips moved slowly against hers as his arms encircled her waist and he pulled her close, savouring the kiss and feel of her as if it was the last he would ever have. Which, he figured it may well be. She sighed into his mouth and he pulled away, moving back from her embrace.

"I'm a death eater", he hardened his features. "You aren't".

Then he walked to Blaise's body, grabbed his arm and apparated without looking back at Hermione's broken features, the pain in his chest waited until he had left to finally explode as he collapsed back in the stone courtyard in Malfoy Manor, screaming in agony.

Hermione screamed falling to her knees, the mark on her arm which had subsided, now burned a bright red and her flesh felt as if it was melting off the bone as she pulled and clawed at her arm not even noticing that she was drawing blood.

What Draco hadn't even considered was that in leaving her, being the only person who stopped her from being isolated and in sheer agony, he was subjecting her to everything the mark was supposed to have done in the first place. Their very souls were being separated. It was happening...the very thing Voldemort had wanted in the first place.

She was in agony.

She was tearing herself to pieces.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

**It is impossible to suffer without making someone pay for it; every complaint already contains revenge-Friedrich Nietzsche**

"Draco?"

_"Hermione?"_

"Is he dead Draco?"

_"Hermione what are you doing to yourself, stop"._

"Where is the girl? Draco, why do you not speak?"

_"Hermione?!"_

"Draco, stop. Draco?!"

…

…***

Draco woke to the sound of hurrying footsteps sweeping down the corridor and launching themselves into his room which his mother had hurriedly thrown him in. She had wrestled Blaise's cold body out of his vice-like grip and urged him to walk quickly to the confines of his room.

He had gone without question, indeed, he wasn't sure he could even have summoned the energy to protest, his mother had seemed so frightened for him. Visions of Hermione had raced through his mind and now he still could not bring himself to believe that he had left her. Exhaustion had eventually claimed him as soon as his head had hit the pillow and his mother had hurried away but his blissful unconscious state was to be short lived.

His father's face suddenly loomed before his and he grabbed Draco's throat ferociously and pulled his face close. Draco noted, through heavy-lidded eyes, that his father was wild looking, his eyes blazing furiously and nothing but contempt was written across his features.

"Did you kill him?"

His grip tightened and Draco knew struggling was useless, so instead he narrowed his sleep-deprived eyes and sighed impatiently as if his father was incredibly stupid. His cloudy mind was keeping the memories of..._her..._on severe lockdown for the moment anyway, for which he was thankful, it gave him time to think.

His father sighed impatiently and gripped tighter until Draco's face began to turn a slightly worrying shade of red. Draco gave his father a questioning glare, did he really expect him to be able to answer while his hand was wrapped around his throat.

The penny dropped and Lucius loosened his fingers only enough to allow his son the ability to speak.

"No, I killed Ginny. She was never one of us, she was pretending", he said firmly, meeting his father's eyes and willing him to argue.

His father's grip loosened even further as he pondered Draco's words. "Your mother has just told me the circumstances surrounding your return, she said you were delirious, screaming and tearing at yourself", he watched his son through disbelieving eyes and Draco could see that no matter what he said, his father had already made up his mind that his mother was exaggerating. In this instance, it really boded well for Draco that his father set so little store in anything his mother had to say.

Draco felt the pain in his heart amplify at the reminder of what he had left behind, his mind finally allowing the images to come flooding forth. He felt as if his whole body would rip in half and there would be pieces of his body scattered across his magnificent bedroom. If Lucius had been granted just once to glimpse into his son's tormented soul; what he would have seen there would have torn even him in two.

Hermione's broken and tortured face loomed before him and Draco had no idea how she was faring but so far…he was in hell.

"I didn't kill him", he said again as if willing himself to believe that he hadn't actually done it. But in truth, he might as well have killed him. He had taken Ginny, a loyal death eater, away from Blaise and as a result Blaise had had to turn on him.

Hadn't Draco killed Ginny for much the same reasons?

Hadn't he killed her because he thought she had taken Hermione away from him?

"Then who did?"

"Potter", said Draco, the lie falling easily from his tongue. There was no way he was going to tell them it was Hermione, they would seek revenge against her and he couldn't have risked that.

"The Dark Lord will want answers", said Lucious solemnly.

"I know that", said Draco, swinging his legs off the bed and getting to his unsteady feet, "I was there when she turned back to their side but I didn't see Potter kill him".

Lucius nodded but his eyes told Draco that he didn't believe a word he was saying, "You're in trouble Draco. I hope you know that".

"Will you please stop telling me things I already know?"

"I'm warning you Draco, the Dark Lord is unhappy and somebody must be punished for this and _Potter_ isn't here". He was glaring at Draco sceptically, knowing that his son was lying, "All I will tell you Draco is that protecting anyone is useless, the Dark Lord always finds out".

Draco nodded, already knowing that if anyone was going to be taking the fall for this it had to be him.

Maybe Voldemort would kill him; Draco could only hope.

"Hermione?" A tentative voice shouted in fear but Hermione was oblivious to her surroundings. Her mark was searing through her skin and the ability to feel anything other than pain had long since disappeared.

She tried to grind out some sort of coherent sentence but the words just wouldn't come, all that came from her mouth was screams of anguish followed by tortured cries of grief.

Eventually, she was no longer sure if she was screaming for her mark or the searing pain in her heart which Draco had shattered into a thousand pieces the moment he had chosen the Death Eaters over her.

She felt herself being lifted from the cold hard ground where he had left her and after some quiet conversation whoever was holding her apparated away.

The smell of salt and sand filled her nostrils and she knew that she was now at Bill and Fleur's cottage, the place she had first chosen Draco, the very person who had left her, over anything else.

And now, he was gone.

The pain continued to course through her body but if she kept biting her lip she could prevent the screams from coming unwanted and unbidden from her mouth. She was placed into the very room Draco had been imprisoned in weeks before and left there to work through the screams on her own.

Nobody could stand to be around her after what had happened to Ginny and if Hermione had been able to speak she wouldn't have blamed them a bit. No matter what Ginny had done, she had been killed by the very person Hermione loved the most and they would never forgive her for bringing Draco into their lives the way she had done.

After all, it had all started with the belief that they could have been happy, a fairy-tale that could never have been; a life together that could never have happened. She had pulled Draco into a world where he wasn't wanted and now, she wasn't even part of it herself.

And he wasn't there.

That was the only point that kept coming back to her.

He was no longer there.

"Where?"

Draco screamed and writhed in agony. The tiny part of his mind that was still able to function under torture wondered briefly how he was supposed to answer anything when all he could do was scream?

It was rather like killing someone first and then trying to ask a question, what was the point?

The torture stopped and all Draco could hear was his father whisper under his breath that his son was embarrassing him by screaming.

"Tell me father, if you stabbed me would you tell me not to bleed?" Draco hissed back earning himself another round of the Cruciatus Curse.

"Tell me, where is the battle to take place?"

Voldemort was furious at him. Not because he believed Draco had ever been anything but loyal but because he believed that once again Draco had failed him. His mission had been simple, get Hermione to trust him, brand her and then kill her.

Instead, she had ended up back with the Order who would protect her no matter what she was now and not only that, Draco had allowed his own feelings to become embroiled in this; going so far as to feel something for a mudblood.

To top it all off, Blaise who had been loyal to the last was now dead.

Ginny, who had made a valuable recruit, was also dead and she had died with the Order believing she was one of them and not a death eater at all and therefore, not truly lost. Potter would look for revenge now, this would not break his spirit instead it would make him more determined.

And for all these reasons, Draco was being punished whether Voldemort was aware of all of them or not. He needed somebody to punish and Draco was the only one who had come back alive, the result was only logical.

"The mudblood, she must have talked since you felt so faithful to her?" Voldemort sneered before flicking his wand lazily and levitating Draco from the floor of the cavernous ballroom and onto the same stone slab that Hermione had been branded on.

It was oddly poetic really, that Draco be tortured on the very spot that Hermione had been branded and meant to die.

Draco doubted that any of the Order were about to come shooting through the door and save him though.

But as he writhed and twisted on that stone slab, the manacles snaking around his wrists, he found himself hoping to even see St Potter's face.

Maybe she would come. He didn't want to die, not like this. Not without seeing her one last time.

The pain continued unbearably for as long as Hermione could stand it. All she could think about was how she wanted to die before she realised that she couldn't die without seeing him...her body wouldn't let her.

That was when his face exploded into her mind with all the full force of the love she felt for him and suddenly the pain of the mark began to subside ever so slightly.

Hermione allowed herself to think of that pale, arrogant blonde boy who had made her life miserable but also made her feel things she had only heard about.

He was her saviour, just by existing he had walked her into more trouble than she had ever experienced but she knew that she wasn't ready to give up yet because she needed him and whether he wanted to admit it or not, he needed her too.

Not on him, not on herself and certainly not on this deluded fairy-tale she had concocted in her mind.

Like she had said to him all those weeks ago when she had still been his prisoner: _The story has to end you're right but that doesn't mean you can't change the ending, it's your story for fuck's sake and that is not nothing that is something._

She would change the ending of this and she would need help.

"Harry", she screamed suddenly knowing he was there and wouldn't be able to listen to her without coming to see what she wanted.

"Harry", she clambered off the bed and towards the door of the bedroom which had been locked tightly and without her wand there was very little she could do except scream for him.

"Harry you know what I want, get up here. I'm your oldest friend", she roared in anger, "I need you".

She remained slumped by the door, waiting for the footsteps which she knew would come.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity she heard slow, deliberate footsteps coming up towards the room before they stopped outside her door.

She got to her feet and leaned on the door.

"Harry?" she whispered.

She heard him sigh and knew that he had come against the wishes of everyone else.

"Please", she breathed and that was all it took, the door creaked open and she stood back to allow Harry entry.

"Hermione, I have nothing to say to you", He sighed looking at her with the most pained expression Hermione had ever seen.

"You know why I asked you to come up here", she said, "You won't change my mind".

He sighed and looked down, "I can't help you".

"Yes you can", she said grabbing his shoulders and shaking him slightly, knowing that she looked deranged.

"No", he removed her hands, "I can't. Ginny is dead Hermione".

"And not helping me won't bring her back", said Hermione desperately.

Harry looked as if she had hit him, "No, it won't but helping you will mean bringing him back".

"It isn't his fault, Ginny told him she had killed me Harry. She was always a death eater".

"I'm not listening to this", he turned his back and prepared to go.

"Wait Harry please", Hermione was pleading, she could hear it in her voice but if she was right, she was running out of time.

He turned and sighed impatiently.

"You don't trust anything I say now, I know that and there is nothing I can say that will make you believe that she was always a Death Eater but I could show you all of the memories I have of her giving up you for Blaise. I could break your heart and ruin your memory of her forever by showing you everything I have seen that passed between them but I won't do that to you".

For the first time since Harry had entered the room he was finally really seeing Hermione as if for the first time. Everything he had thought about her, about her allegiance about her sudden loyalty to Draco over anyone else had now been called into question.

Now, he realised there was that doubt in his head that Hermione was right. That Ginny had been acting strange when they had been attacked at the Burrow and if that doubt could creep into his head so easily then there was surely the possibility that it was all true.

If he continued to question Hermione, she would show him everything and that would change his opinion of Ginny forever and he wasn't sure he could risk that.

He sighed in defeat, "What do you need me to do?"

Hermione smiled slightly at him, "I need you to bring me to her and I need you to find a way to get Mad Eye Moody to me, I'm going to need him".

"Why?"

"Have you ever heard of a masquerade charm?"

"Draco, my patience is growing thin", said Voldemort sighing deeply.

Draco had been tortured to within an inch of his life and he lay flat on the stone slab, sweat pouring from his body. So far he had said nothing, he had no idea what to say in all honesty.

He knew nothing about the upcoming battle, never mind where it was supposed to take place.

In truth, it seemed he had spent his time with Hermione barely paying attention to anything that was going on.

"I told you already, I haven't a clue".

"Yes but you will excuse my inability to believe you based on the fact that you are deliberately blocking me from your mind", sneered Voldemort while Draco's parents tensed behind him.

Draco rolled onto his side as far as the manacles would allow, "Forgive me my Lord but my thoughts would be more than unpleasant given the fact that you are torturing me and I wouldn't want you to see into my treasonous head".

"Your flippancy astounds me Draco", he replied.

"There is nothing more I can say to make you listen to me", said Draco turning his face away.

"No indeed, it would take some sort of miracle", he smiled serenely but it came out a grimace, "Let us leave Draco to his thoughts".

"If I might make a small suggestion?" A voice that Draco was sure he recognised came from the doorway but he couldn't turn to see that far.

He heard the audible gasps from everyone else in the room and briefly wondered had the Order come for him. Then he realised nobody was fighting, nobody was firing spells. Indeed, everyone had been stunned into silence.

Voldemort was the first to speak, "I don't believe this is possible and I who have conquered the impossible should know".

"Improbably perhaps but certainly not impossible", came the calm voice which was now infuriating Draco that he could not place it.

"It would seem so; shall you tell us all of your miraculous recovery?" Voldemort seemed more than pleased to see whoever it was so Draco felt sure that it was nobody who was going to help him.

"Well, there are perhaps one or two things that I must clear up first?"

Finally the silhouette moved into the room and Draco gasped as the full form of Ginny appeared before him looking just as she had done when she had died.

"You died?" He croaked out.

"I certainly did not Draco and you should remember we planned it perfectly", she giggled lightly and Draco felt his heart stop, how could this be true?

"Enlighten us please my dear", said Voldemort.

Ginny lifted her sleeve and showed her burning black Dark Mark, "My Lord, Blaise betrayed you".

Draco remained silent; totally confused as to where she was going with this and still shocked that she was even there when he had seen her slumped body himself.

"Blaise was in love with the mudblood not Draco but he tried to hide it by pretending to be with me. The truth is, Draco and I are in love and we were determined to kill the mudblood and expose Blaise. Unfortunately, he died. Collateral damage you understand".

"Blaise was on the side of the Order?"

"You gave me to him but it was never me he wanted, it was the mudblood. Draco and I worked hard to remain faithful to each other so that we could finally rid everyone of the two of them".

Voldemort stroked his fingers over his snake-like face, "Draco, you've been holding out on us".

Draco said nothing, still staring at Ginny with wide eyes and raised eyebrows.

"Ginny was killed?"

"No, Hermione was killed. I am clearly still very much alive. Blaise's body, I trust you have it?"

"Draco told me that Ginny was dead and that Potter killed Blaise?"

Something flashed across Ginny's eyes that Draco couldn't help but notice as he stared at her intently. It seemed familiar but he had no idea how to interpret it. As soon as she noticed him staring, the look was gone.

"Potter killed Blaise?" she repeated almost dazed, "That is correct of course but until Draco knew what was to become of me, seeing as he had no choice but to leave me behind and escape, he couldn't admit that I was still alive".

"Indeed, he said that he had killed you and that you were never a true Death Eater", said Lucius.

"That was a cover considering the fact that he couldn't produce Hermione's body to you as proof, he had to wait for me to come for him to make sure our story didn't come out to the Order".

"So you are telling me that you and Draco are in love and have been this entire time but because of the mission the two of you had to expose Blaise you had to keep it a secret. This then follows that Draco had to remain silent in order to see what would happen to you?"

"Precisely, the Order are now fully aware that I am loyal to the Death Eaters only and nobody else. I left before they could stop me".

"This is rather confusing", said Voldemort narrowing his eyes and Draco knew he would need much more convincing than this, "You want me to believe that you are with Draco?"

"I am in love with Draco", she corrected calmly and for the first time since she had entered the ballroom, she moved forwards to where Draco was sprawled across the stone slab.

Draco was staring at her eyes intently as she moved towards him and rested her hands on his arms.

"You had to leave me behind Draco, I know that but I've come back to you", Ginny said quietly and it was only when Draco stared deeply into her hazel eyes that he realised.

Ginny's eyes had always been blue.

"You came back?" he whispered and she nodded.

She had come back to him and she had come back in the most dangerous circumstances possible.

She had killed them both. Her story had too many gaps and in places made no sense at all but he hoped Voldemort wouldn't realise what was going on until it was too late.

"I came back", she whispered in reply nodding and now when she nodded Draco realised it was no longer Ginny's face that he was seeing.

It was Hermione's.

**Review**


	15. Chapter 15

**A chapter to wet your appetites and to explain what is going on. I'm sorry it is so short but you won't have long to wait for the next chapter, I've already started writing it. **

**Review.**

**Chapter Fifteen-Binding**

**That which is done out of love is always beyond good and evil-Friedrich Nietzsche**

"Well, let us not stand on ceremony here; after all, the prodigal...daughter has returned to her beloved so we must reunite them completely".

His voice was barely a whisper and the words dripped with malevolent malice so much so that Draco watched Hermione, in Ginny's body, visibly shiver.

His gaze flickered from Voldemort back to this girl who had come with the intention of saving him but who obviously hadn't thought it all through unless something miraculous was going to happen in the next few minutes; which he highly doubted.

"Untie him", said Voldemort. This time directing his command towards Lucius, "Untie your son".

"My Lord", was the only reply he received while Lucius stumbled his way towards the stone slab altar.

He hissed at Draco through his teeth as he undid the manacles but Draco ignored him, all he wanted to do was get to her. She was standing to one side, Narcissa standing next to her almost as if she could reach out and grab her if she had to.

Draco stormed up off the slab and prepared to launch himself over to Hermione but his father held his arm tightly, "Don't" he hissed.

At the same time, Narcissa had grabbed Hermione's arm to prevent her from moving towards him.

Draco didn't have time to wonder what was going on, his gaze never wavered from Hermione's but really Ginny's face but Voldemort's laugh shook him out of his reverie.

"I see your parents have more sense", he cackled.

Draco tore his eyes from the face of Ginny, "What's going on? She came back to you, to me. What more do you want?"

"Draco, I know this is not what it seems", Voldemort's robes billowed behind him as he walked towards the stone slab, his long fingers twining together in an almost agitated state.

Draco didn't move, had he figured out already what was going on here? Had he noticed that the so-called Ginny's eyes were the wrong colour and her voice slightly too low?

"Tell me again that you love this girl and not the mudblood?" Voldemort was probing for direct answers, he didn't believe the story Hermione had tried to feed him but nor could he refute all of it completely. Draco supposed he didn't want to believe any other version and at this late hour, with Potter and the Order preparing for battle, he didn't have a choice but to seek alternative and more acceptable scenarios that favoured his side.

Draco didn't answer immediately, he wanted to be sure he could control where this was heading because no matter where it was; he knew it was dangerous territory.

"That is what I'm saying", he said slowly, straightening his back and furrowing his eyebrows attempting to appear as sure of himself as he used to feel. "I've never wavered in my loyalty, I allowed you to see into my mind the last time my allegiance was called into question if you recall?"

"And this girl, right here, is the only one you want?" He said ignoring what Draco's defiance.

"Yes, she is", he said again, moving his gaze over to Hermione and trying not to sigh when he realised once more that it was Ginny who stood in front of him.

"Then I see no reason why we may not perform a binding ceremony for the two of you", he said a smile leering across his face, "Since you are so devoted to each other". The tone was sarcastic but Draco felt sure that if Voldemort was certain of what was going on, he would never have allowed the sentence to come from his lips. He would never go to the trouble; instead he would just kill them both and be done with it.

Draco paused, Voldemort was toying with him, he knew that but he also knew that he was still very firmly in the dark. He was trying to see how serious Draco was but in truth he had not figured out that this was actually Hermione he was talking about. He would never have allowed a binding ceremony with a mudblood.

Draco said the words over again to himself, _a binding ceremony_ that was what was being proposed and it was very, very permanent and sometimes so humiliating that it destroyed whoever was going through it.

"You think this necessary, in order to prove my allegiance to what? To her? To you?" Draco folded his arms and attempted to be his usual sneering self without going too far, remembering of course who he was talking to.

"But of course", said Voldemort, "Since you are so determined to be together, why not?"

Voldemort was trying to catch him out, Draco realised, and that was what was really going on here. Voldemort wanted him to say no to the binding ceremony, knowing what it meant and what it included. Draco still didn't know how Hermione had come to look like Ginny but during a binding ceremony you were stripped of all magical charms and illusions, they would be killed if the charm, if that is what it was, wore off in the middle of it and Hermione stood before them all...but by then the binding would be complete and they would be dead before anything else could happen.

"I would be willing but I'm afraid the concept of a binding is lost on my future bride", said Draco, motioning towards Hermione, still locked in the arm embrace of Narcissa.

She looked terrified so perhaps the concept hadn't been completely lost on her.

"Why should that bother me?" said Voldemort gesturing towards Hermione.

"If I may speak my Lord", she said for the first time since her arrival and with such power and determination that even Voldemort looked surprised.

"Of course", He replied bowing mockingly to her.

"The precise concept of a binding ceremony is indeed lost on me but I understand the essential parts. If you would allow us the usual time to prepare together that is required?" She tore her arm from Narcissa's grasp and threw her a withering glare that even Bellatrix would have been proud of.

"You are agreeing to the proposal?" He was shocked, but Hermione didn't wait for him to continue or to grow suspicious.

"I know what I want and I want to be a part of Draco, to belong to him in the most permanent way possible. I also know that when the time comes, I wish to stand next to him on the battle field and face Potter and his cronies and wipe them out". She spoke with such stubborn defiance that nobody in the room spoke for the longest time. Voldemort was surveying her shrewdly, looking for even the slightest sign of weakness but she wasn't finished.

"The battle is to take place at Hogwarts, they will be waiting for you my Lord but they will not outnumber us".

Voldemort took a step towards her at this last utterance and Draco knew they had won for now. This necessary sentence had obviously been in her head from the beginning and she had waited for the appropriate time to drop it in.

And it had worked perfectly, Voldemort was lapping it up.

"Your return is most welcome, you have proved yourself more worthy than your mate", He cast Draco an annoyed look.

"You should not be angry at him, they told him nothing but they told me everything and if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here. Will you now grant me the time I need with him to prepare for the ceremony?"

"When is this battle to take place?"

"That my Lord is entirely up to you. They are congregating there as we speak, knowing it is imminent but after that, the power lies entirely in your hands", She bowed lowly to him and Draco was sure that if he could clap his hands in excitement, Voldemort would have.

"I'm feeling generous, so I shall leave the two of you to discuss and we shall perform the ceremony at the traditional time", he nodded at her with the utmost respect and she returned the look with a wicked smile and a smirk aimed at Bellatrix who had remained furious in a corner of the room knowing she was being usurped from pride of place in Voldemort's favour.

He motioned everyone to leave the room, Draco's mother casting him looks of trepidation as she left, his father barely even afforded him a glance.

Until it was just the two of them and Bellatrix's furious stomping had ceased, Draco raced towards Hermione just as she slumped forwards into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Oh God, I missed you. What have I done in coming here?" She cried and for the first time, Draco held her gently.

He stroked her hair, her hair that was the wrong colour, and tried to keep her quiet so that those listening outside the door wouldn't hear her.

"Come on, you have to stop", He said more firmly this time, holding her at arm's length and he was surprised to see that she was barely crying and the look of steely resolve had returned to her face.

"I don't know what a binding ceremony is; I know that it is something to do with marriage?" She asked first, moving out of his grasp and adopting a serious look as she prepared to take in his words.

"You did a very good impression of someone who knew what he was talking about but you aren't going to like this", he said but she waved her hand.

"That is irrelevant, I want you to talk to me the way you used to alright? When you didn't care what I thought or who I was. You need to just say all of it, from the beginning. If it helps, think of me as Ginny, which shouldn't be hard", she smiled slightly but there was no humour there.

"Don't joke about how you look, it's too...weird. You need to tell me how you did it", he said.

"Later, please come on I don't think we have time for this catch up. You look like shit", she added thoughtfully.

In truth, he did look like shit. Up until about half an hour ago, he was being tortured into revealing information he didn't even have. A few hours before that, he had been in the middle of a battle between death eaters and he had killed Ginny.

That would take a toll on your features but he didn't have time to worry about vanity right now.

Draco leaned against the stone slab and folded his arms attempting to find the words to tell her about the binding ceremony glancing at her surreptitiously every so often just to make sure she was still in the room and not some elaborate hallucination.

"A binding ceremony is like a marriage but a lot more...serious", he said carefully.

"Things generally are in the magical world, I've noticed", she replied sarcastically.

"Well, there are three parts to it. The first is called, the vow. It's the easiest part; it's just saying the words when prompted. The second part is the seal and that is when we...mix our blood from our palms. It's messy but not too bad", he paused searching for the right words.

"What?" She said frowning at him.

"The next part is the...well; it's the final part so it is sort of the most important. It's called the sacrifice".

"Don't tell me we have to kill someone or something", she said narrowing her eyes.

"No, it's the sacrificing of your...well...your virginity to be blunt", he said lowly, not meeting her gaze.

"My...my virginity? We have to have sex? Well that's a pretty standard part of a marriage isn't it? Even though we sacrificed my virginity a long time ago."

"Not when it's done in front of other people it isn't standard at all", he kept his eyes downcast.

"Seriously? We have to have sex in front of everyone?" Her eyes widened incredulously.

"And then we get branded, the ring finger", he motioned to her hand, "We get a black tattoo on it, burned into the skin so that everyone can see we are bound to someone else. It's just like a permanent black ink ring".

"What happens if we break up?" She said slowly.

"We can't, ever. It means death; we are supposed to be together and besides with the way your dark mark is, being apart isn't really an option anymore is it?" Draco was surprised at how well she was taking the news of a marriage to him.

"It is a little humiliating and I get that it is permanent but I was already branded so really, does any of this have any relevance?"

"Well, there is one thing that I think could change Voldemort's mind about you being his new favourite and in all honesty, this is what I think he is hoping for because then it would mean he was right to suspect me all along. He is a terrible loser really", said Draco, savouring each word so that the build up to what he had to say could be prolonged.

"What is it?" She said impatiently, waving her hand at him.

"During the...well during the sex, we are stripped of all magical enchantments and charms. We are even stripped of our magical abilities for a short time. It is the single most vulnerable moment of our lives because we are making a commitment to be together in any shape or form. That's the idea anyway".

"So, we are utterly helpless?"

He nodded, waiting for her to grasp the concept. He sighed when she didn't.

"This...spell that you have on, will be broken. Stripped off and by the time it happens, the binding will be over and we will be utterly fucked. All Voldemort will have to do is kill one of us and watch the other die".

Hermione said nothing for the longest time before mumbling something incoherent.

"I didn't catch that".

"There is a chance this...change, could be permanent", she whispered.

"What?" He pushed himself of the stone slab and moved to stand in front of her, fury burning through him.

"Well, I had to be prepared for everything and that meant covering a lot of ground. Plus, I needed her dark mark and not the bright red monstrosity I have. A masquerade charm is very dark magic and I had to get Moody to help me", she was biting her lip waiting for him to explode in anger.

"I don't know what the fuck a masquerade charm is", he replied through clenched teeth.

"Well basically, I am her. I have her body, this is the dead body of Ginny and I am living inside it. If I was told to show you Ginny's actual body I couldn't because...well because I'm in it".

"So you are inside her?"

"I'm wearing her, like a mask but because of the sort of magic it is...I may not be able to take the mask off so to speak", she couldn't meet his eyes as she spoke, humiliation rolling off of her in waves.

Draco turned his back on her to fully comprehend what she was telling him. That was why her voice and her eyes hadn't changed, because she was wearing Ginny like a morbid mask. Ginny's essence was no longer there, she was a corpse with Hermione inside of her.

The thought made him feel sick.

He turned around, "Your mark?"

"Is still on my arm and burns like hell but you can't see it. I can though, when I look down I see me but if I look at my reflection, I see her".

Draco paused, "So you don't think a binding ceremony will make a difference?"

"No, I don't. I don't think the magic of a binding ceremony is dark enough to cope with stripping me of it and Moody didn't know how to reverse it so for the moment, I'm stuck here".

She shrugged but Draco was breathing heavily, the idea of looking at Ginny and knowing Hermione was in there somewhere and he couldn't get to her was more than he could think about.

"When will this ceremony be performed?"

"At midnight, we will be joined together. End one day unattached and begin the next forever bound", Draco rubbed his hands through his hair, "I have a horrible feeling we are screwed".

"The Order told me to tell him where the battle was, it is true. They are waiting for him", she said quietly, coming to stand next to him and place a hand on his arm.

He turned to face her, tilting her chin up so he could look at her eyes, the only part of her he now recognised.

"We will make it through this", he whispered.

"Well, if we don't...at least now we know how the story ends", she whispered back.

"No", said Draco hearing the sounds of Voldemort returning as midnight fast approached, "No we don't, not yet".

**Review. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Not many chapters left. **

**Go and read ****_Through my Eyes_****, when this story is gone it will be all that is left. **

**Unless I begin another story in which the title is still a work-in-progress but I'm thinking: ****_The price of ones reputation _****or ****_What does it take to change a reputation?_**

**What do you all think? Any suggestions?**

**Any ideas of what it will be about? You may be surprised. **

**Chapter Sixteen-Liberate**

**I know my fate. One day my name will be associated with the memory of something tremendous-a crisis without equal on earth, the most profound collision of conscience, a decision that was conjured up against everything that had been believed, demanded, hallowed so far. **

**I am no man, I am dynamite-Friedrich Nietzsche**

'If this was some sort of movie', Draco thought to himself as Voldemort stormed back in just as the clock struck midnight, 'This would be such a cliché'.

He stood very close to Hermione, or Ginny if you prefer, contemplating nonchalantly what was about to happen. Voldemort had been played a little too easily and Draco was waiting for someone to go 'Gotcha' but nobody did and Bellatrix, his mother and father began circling the room saying the necessary enchantments.

Being a magical ceremony, the air had to be alive with magic; electric with it, for anything to work or have any sort of lasting effect. Draco hoped that Hermione was right, that her masquerade charm would sustain any magic that was about to happen here.

She was usually right about things like that so he tried not to allow doubt to overcrowd his mind. But something was niggling at him, some feeling that things were not quite what they seemed.

"Now, we may begin", said Voldemort, after receiving a subtle nod from Lucius.

Draco hesitated but nodded himself and began to remove his clothes, motioning for Hermione to do the same.

"Really?" She asked raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"Now is not the time for modesty, Miss Weasley. Please", he waved his hand, "Don't keep your betrothed waiting".

Hermione's hands shook when she pulled the t-shirt over her head and no matter how much Draco tried to reassure her, he couldn't shake the fact that it felt like they were both being subjected to visual rape.

Once he was thoroughly naked, the chill seeping through his bones, he kept his eyes fixed on hers; willing her to see that everything would be alright.

She didn't look convinced and he couldn't blame her for that.

Voldemort took his place on the other side of the stone slab altar, murmuring softly that this hideous thing was very fitting indeed given the muggles being crushed underneath its weight.

Draco knelt on the other side, the slab reaching the height of his chest, and waited for her to take her place next to him.

She was now shaking so badly that she gripped his shoulder in order to lower her knees down since they wouldn't cooperate on their own.

Draco wanted to stroke her cheek or tuck her hair back in behind her ear but both actions were too intimate for this scene and the last thing he wanted was to come across as weak.

"Friends", began Voldemort, raising his arms up in a wide and open gesture to the other three people in the room.

Draco wanted so badly to snort in derision but he managed to suppress the feeling.

"We are here to bear witness to the binding of this man and this woman who shall from this day forth share blood and mingle as one entity".

Hermione cast Draco a worried look, as if she too felt there was something amiss but he shook his head subtly and prayed that she would remain silent.

"Repeat after me, I, Draco Scorpius Malfoy do solemnly swear that this woman shall forever be one half of me", Voldemort was smirking at him, his red eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly.

Draco repeated the words with the air of someone under duress, not wanting to seem overly keen but all the while feeling as if he was being lured into a trap.

"She will belong with me and I with her from now until the end of time and only death can sever us".

Draco said the words, knowing the next part before Voldemort even had to prompt him.

"This I do swear on my honour and by my love for her, always and forever" He sighed the last words and lowered his head so that he didn't have to look into the leering gaze of Voldemort.

"Now, I, Ginerva Molly Weasley do solemnly swear that this man shall forever be one half of me", Voldemort was watching her curiously, as was Draco, as she spoke the words slowly and cautiously.

When she said the name Ginerva, Draco noticed her arm that contained the mark began to twitch noticeably. Was the spell she was under realising that her name was wrong?

She didn't wait for Voldemort to prompt her for the next part but instead began to say the words pointedly to Draco, looking him dead in the eye and he knew that while she was saying them as Ginny, she wanted him to know that she meant them.

He also knew that when she had said 'Ginerva', she had been screaming Hermione in her head resulting in the twitch in her arm, magic picked up on things like that. It would know there was an error.

"This I do swear on my honour", her arm twitched violently, "and by my love for him, always and forever".

Draco breathed a sigh of relief as Voldemort waved his wand and a golden strand entwined them both, binding them together and then disappearing into thin air.

He then motioned for them to raise their right hands at which point he waved his wand again and a thing gash appeared on their palms.

Draco turned to her and held his hand up, waiting for her to clasp her hand to his.

As their blood mingled, Voldemort whispered the incantation which would cause their wounds to heal, sealing their blood inside the other. Most wizards said that this part was the most intimate and powerful of all and Draco felt that he now understood what they had meant. She was under his skin and flowing through his very veins.

Hermione gasped as she felt Draco's power course through her, it was the oddest feeling, like a part of him now resided inside of her. She was almost glad especially if it made her red mark easier to cope with.

"Now", Voldemort was grinning malevolently but with a barely contained hint of glee.

He moved back to stand with the others so that they formed a small semi-circular audience around the slab.

Draco stood, and held out his hand for Hermione to take. She was trembling now and looked as if she would be violently sick.

He placed an arm around her waist and guided her until she was lying on the slab, attempting in the most subtle way possible to reassure her.

He tried not to think of the last time she had been lying here before him, when she was being branded, and how he had sickeningly looked at her body with wonder even in that dire situation.

Now look where it had brought them; a binding ceremony and Ginny's skinny body underneath him where Hermione's body should have been.

He climbed up until he was positioned above her, this was better, now he could really imagine they were the only two people in the world and he felt her relax underneath him just the smallest bit. He tried to only focus on her eyes and block the rest of her out so that he could pretend things were how they should be.

"I love you", she mouthed, the first time she had really said it to him and she hadn't even managed to utter the words aloud.

"I love you too", he mouthed back, before thrusting deep into her and feeling her writhe beneath him.

It was awful really, it was the last situation in the world that either of them should have gotten any pleasure out of but they couldn't help it. Either it was from the binding ceremony or the fact that compared to the last time they had done it, there was no anger in this, only despair and a last ditch attempt to find comfort in one another.

Whatever the reason, as soon as he began moving slowly in and out of her everything seemed to melt away. He became vaguely aware of a thin film of an almost transparent, but nonetheless frosted, veil surrounding them and therefore blocking out the stares of everyone else.

This made things easier, when he could no longer feel the glare of his father and the embarrassed stare of his mother.

He moved his hands to either side of Hermione's head and revelled in the feel of her, because he knew that he was inside Hermione, not Ginny. Whether she wanted to or not, she moved underneath him and her eyes fluttered shut, breaking the only outside contact Draco had with the real Hermione, so he closed his eyes and allowed himself to remember that it was Hermione's body inside even if it wasn't from the outside.

He could almost convince himself that it was just the two of them, that they were all that mattered in the world and nobody else even knew they existed.

Finally, he understood what it meant to love someone. To want to do anything to save them and in that exact moment, Draco had never felt so free; so, liberated.

She smiled without opening her eyes as he began to move faster, building the slow and luxurious pace he had been leading with up until he thought he might die for release.

Her voice grew from soft moans, to loud shouts of ecstasy and he knew that she too was close.

Draco was too lost in her, in this moment, to notice that her red hair was changing colour from the roots to tips. The soft brown curls replaced the straight, fiery red hair slowly and as it happened, her face came into focus. He opened his eyes as something about the feel and curve of her body changed, it became more filled out and softer almost until he realised that he was seeing her, finally.

Draco smiled finding his release the second he saw Hermione for how she was supposed to look. She grinned in response, finding her release at the same time.

For several minutes, while the film remained in place, they breathed heavily revelling in the warmth of each other and the intimate gesture of him remaining within her.

For now, they were one in a physical and an emotional sense.

"There you are", Draco whispered softly, drinking in every inch of her and fearing the moment that she would disappear again.

"You found me", she replied, smiling sadly, reaching her hand up and moving his fringe out of his eyes, marvelling at the little beads of sweat that had formed on his brow.

He slowly eased out of her, his muscles tensed as he became aware of not leaning on her and holding his own weight in his arms.

Draco glanced down at his hand; the black tattooed ring was now firmly etched onto his left ring finger there was no going back now, they were bound.

He looked back at her, expecting to see Ginny staring back at him but Hermione was still there.

The veil remained firmly intact with no sign yet of moving but Draco still could not take his gaze from her face.

She began to look worried, looking at him questioningly.

"Your...your face", he whispered hurriedly.

"What?" She reached a hand up and felt her own face and hair, "No", she whispered in reply, her eyes widening in fear.

But there was no time to wonder what they would do, the spell was finished and the veil was lifting slowly, ceremoniously almost like a curtain rising before an audience so that the performers could take their final bow.

Draco composed himself, perhaps because they were bound only he could see her for who she really was?

Draco knew immediately by the gasps of shock and outrage on the part of his parents and Aunt that his guess was wrong. He looked over at her and saw Hermione, just as they were seeing her.

Ginny's corpse, lay on the floor in front of the altar, looking just as it had done when Draco had killed her but rigor mortis had set in and since Hermione had used her, the body was all twisted and distorted, her face a mask of an endless, silent scream.

Draco glanced at Voldemort who, he was surprised to find, was grinning as if someone had just delivered Potter to him on a silver platter with an apple in his mouth.

Draco realised with a jolt that he had known all along. They hadn't fooled him at all, he had played them for fools and now...well now the game was over, the trap had been set and Draco had allowed it to ensnare them.

They were going to die, that much was certain.

Voldemort snorted slightly and then burst into raucous laughter except with him there was nothing infectious about it. It made Draco want to vomit so he settled for clenching his fists and closing his eyes.

He opened them when Voldemort had finally stopped, after several minutes, and noticed that the Dark Lord was bowing before him.

"Oh Draco, you have disappointed me in so many ways but this, this is just wonderful", his voice was barely a hiss but the excitement was very prevalent.

"Lucius, Narcissa", he motioned for them to come and stand next to him, "May I present your son and his new wife, you have liberated her Draco".

His laughter would not be contained and it came forth a second time in all its repulsive glory. Draco realised with contempt that it wasn't the spell that had changed her back, it had been him. By making love to her, he had released her from her mask and plunged both of them into deeper shit than he could ever have imagined.

"But my Lord", said Lucius, desperately trying to back track on his son's behalf.

"No, Lucius", he smiled, "Not this time. I hate to be the bearer of bad news", his tone was sarcastic, "But dear Draco here has been in love with this mudblood all along and he knew that he was being bound to her and not poor Miss Weasley", he gestured to Ginny's grotesque body.

Lucius snapped his mouth shut and was unable to meet anyone's eye as he contemplated the news that his son was the worst kind of traitor imaginable disgracing not only himself but the pureblood Malfoy name.

"How does it feel Lucius? Your only son bound to a mudblood who now bears the name of Malfoy?" Voldemort was snickering like a child again.

Draco glanced over at Hermione who had, like him, been utterly stricken into silence. She was terrified but determined looking. Now that they both knew their story would end in death, like some sort of clichéd tragic love story, there was a certain resolve in their manner.

At least it would end with them being together, as corny as it sounded. But Draco didn't care; there wasn't exactly anything they could do about it now.

He tried to smile at her but nothing happened, his face remained impassive not allowing the smile to come forth. Her gaze shifted from him and he followed it back over to Voldemort who had once again begun to laugh.

"May I present Draco and Hermione Malfoy", Voldemort bowed to them.

'Fuck', Draco thought as he clenched his left hand tightly where the black mark now mocked him, it was over.

They had lost.

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	17. Chapter 17

**think only two chapters after this one...or one and an epilogue maybe...I'll see.**

**Chapter Seventeen-Legacy**

**For believe me! The secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is: to live dangerously-Friedrich Nietzsche**

The dejected look on Hermione's face as they led her away was enough to tip Draco over the edge. He couldn't bear to see her in such a state; he just wasn't strong enough to witness her experiencing the kind of pain caused only by pure humiliation and defeat.

He who had seen so much pain, torture and death in his short lifetime could not even stand watching her crumble.

Voldemort had clapped his hands, funny how one simple thing had changed everything. Bellatrix, on cue, stumbled forward and threw Hermione's clothes at her, mumbling something about refusing to touch her bare skin. Draco kept his eyes averted while she pulled on her t-shirt and jeans and before Bellatrix gave her time to put anything on her feet, she had grabbed her roughly and begun to pull her from the room.

Draco was ashamed of himself, he couldn't bring himself to look at her as his aunt took her away; nor did he even try to reach for her and pull her to him. What was the point? What comfort could he offer her now the game was very much over?

For all that had gone between them, he was disgusted with himself that he was unable to even lift his eyes and offer her some hope but there was none left for him to offer. Ginny's mangled body lay between his family and himself as some sort of a sick reminder of what had gone wrong; nobody made reference to it or attempted to remove it, it acted as a symbol of their failure.

He knew what would happen next and he wondered briefly if Hermione did too. Or if by some miracle she thought they might still live through all of this but surely she wouldn't be that naive?

Hermione's eyes were screaming for him to look at her, to fight for her, to say anything. Draco knew all of this without even raising his head in her direction and instead he began to pull his own clothes back on and ignored her cries for him as she was led away.

He hated himself in that moment but it was necessary; she needed to know it was over.

"Draco", Voldemort was no longer smiling now that Hermione was gone even if he could still hear her protests as she was taken back to the dungeon she knew so well. "I cannot begin to tell you how predictably disappointing you have been".

Draco said nothing but the strength to stand on his own two feet and support his own weight, left him so he slumped backwards against the stone tablet; his black t-shirt sticking to his back from the cold sweat that had erupted all over his skin. Even in that dreadful moment he was still attempting to appear nonchalant; if anything Voldemort was right about one thing, he was incredibly predictable.

"You failed me once when you failed to kill Dumbledore and instead like the coward that you are, you ran from him. And now you have allowed me to bind you forever to a Mudblood who bears a red mark of shame and you have fallen in love with her, the idea sickens me", he shivered for added effect.

Draco didn't want to admit that he sickened himself in reality, she had needed him and he hadn't been able to do anything.

"What do you have to say Draco", hissed his father, taking a step towards his son with his fists clenched.

Draco shrugged and stared at the man he had once feared without any emotion, "Nothing I can say will change anything".

"Well", interrupted Voldemort, "You have learnt something at least".

"Draco please", said his mother sounding close to tears and attempting to appear timid.

"Do not weep for me now mother, it's a little too late", said Draco folding his arms and sighing, "You never cried for me before, let's not start now".

"How can you be so facetious?" said his father furiously, some things never changed between the two of them.

"Because now I see the end father. No more games, no more lies, no more trying to please anyone; it is over and I am rejoicing in the fact. I will die in the knowledge that I have lived more of a life than you could ever dream of living". Draco wasn't lying as he spoke the words, he felt like he had lived a thousand lifetimes but he also felt so filled with regret for how he had acted in the past.

"Die Draco? You think we mean to kill you here in some sort of execution?" said Voldemort.

"Is that not why you took her away?" said Draco, gesturing towards the doors Hermione had left through.

"Not at all, I just couldn't look at her anymore", said Voldemort laughing softly to himself, "I have something else planned for you Draco, believe me you will wish that I murdered you here". He turned to Lucius, "You will lock him down with her until I tell you to release him, if what she says is true they will be waiting for us at Hogwarts".

Draco didn't have to wonder at what he meant, they were going to bring them to battle and allow the Order to see what had become of them. She had said the battle was imminent and she had meant it, the sentence had been planted on purpose and Draco had no doubt she and Harry would have agreed on her saying it to Voldemort in the first place.

Draco knew that as far as what she had said, Voldemort had been fooled. He had been so certain that she was trying to ensure her own survival that she would have told him anything.

"Come Draco", said Lucius, motioning for his son to walk with him.

"No need father, I have no wand and I cannot get out of here, I can escort myself down to the dungeons I am all too familiar with", said Draco pushing himself off the stone slab before turning and bowing to Voldemort.

"I bow to a..._man_...more powerful than I", he replied, "But now I realise why love is the only thing between you and Harry Potter. Now I see why it is so powerful and the damage it can do". His words were solemn but heartfelt, it had to be said and he had finally said it. He had succumbed to loving her a long time ago but never had he really allowed the feelings to be so openly portrayed to this, his onetime Lord and Master.

And while it was liberating, as he turned his back on his parents and Voldemort to walk himself down to imprisonment and certain death, he couldn't help but feel that he had signed his own execution papers and personally handed them over.

Hermione felt weak as she pulled her jeans on and begged Draco to look at her, just once, just one look to prove that he still loved her and did not regret doing what they had done. But she took his averted gaze and clouded eyes for shame, shame for their binding and shame on her.

Her face crumbled and the tears threatened to fall but when Bellatrix eventually came forward and grabbed her to pull her back to the dungeons, the cries came forth unbidden from her mouth.

"Draco, please look at me", she burst with, trying to struggle from Bellatrix's grip as she led her away. "I love you Draco, please".

Draco began pulling his own clothes on and his expressionless face remained away from hers but still Hermione would not give up knowing she had to be having some sort of an effect on him.

"Draco", she cried, her voice cracking with pain as Bellatrix finally managed to remove her from the great room, dragging her roughly by the hair until they were descending the stairs to the dungeons.

As they passed the cell Ginny had called home so many lifetimes ago, Hermione repressed a cry of anguish for her friend, her friend who was now dead and her cold corpse lying upstairs because of Hermione.

Her friend who had turned into a death eater and supposedly fallen in love with Blaise. And now here Hermione was fighting for Draco, had they both just been brainwashed? Hermione felt as if she had foolishly brainwashed herself into believing there might ever be a happy ending.

Bellatrix threw her unceremoniously into the cell Hermione had been in so many weeks before. The room was unchanged and almost completely dark.

Hermione fell to her knees, despair seeping through every pore and cried for Draco. They would kill him up there, she felt sure they wouldn't let him live to see her again.

The pain in her mark seared through her but she revelled in it, she could endure its physical agony much better than the feeling of her heart breaking in her chest. It let her know that she was still alive, broken and despairing but alive all the same. For now anyway; she shuddered at the thought.

She couldn't yet figure out why they had let her live, why they had just locked her up again but the fear of what they might do to her was unable to penetrate the pain she was feeling in believing she had lost Draco.

That was until she heard the door at the end of the hallway creak open and slow, painful footsteps coming closer and closer.

Hermione scrambled to her feet and took position on the other side of the cell, preparing herself for what was about to happen; torture or death it didn't matter anymore.

Her door unlocked and there before her, he stood in all of his glory. He walked slowly through and shut it behind him, even though there was no need. Neither of them was going to try and make a run for it, all hope was gone.

Even in that moment, Hermione had to marvel at how beautiful he was. His blonde hair dishevelled and falling into his eyes, his lean body and muscular arms prominent through the black t-shirt he wore and the jeans sitting artfully on his hips.

But his face told another story; he was bruised and broken just like her.

She didn't move to go towards him and neither did he take another step to her, instead he did what she herself had done moments before, he slumped against the wall and fell in defeat, moving his knees up to rest his elbows on them; still unable to look at her.

"You wouldn't look at me", she finally whispered from across the darkness, falling to the floor in the process and mimicking his posture.

"I couldn't look at you, I couldn't look at you and know that I caused all of this", he whispered in reply his voice scathing and harsh but she knew it was himself he was angry at.

"What does that even mean? You were able to meet my eye when they branded me, you were able to look at me as they bound us but now you're telling me that you couldn't look at me even when all of this is finally over?" Hermione was angry, if he felt like he had caused all of this then the least he could have done would be to look her in the eye.

"That was different", he replied, "There was hope then".

"So you think because hope is no longer ours that looking away is the easiest thing to do", she was mocking him, "You don't know me at all and you are doing us no justice now".

"What does that mean?" he said, finally bringing his eye to meet hers, even across the darkened room he could see the defiance etched on her face.

"It means that this is how our story ends, with us being together and that is better than I could have hoped for", she said. "If you want to know the truth, I'm relieved. I'm glad this is over, I'm glad that I'm getting to see you now and talk to you before my time is up. We both knew it had to end and now we know how; the suspense was worse".

He didn't answer for a long time; he wasn't sure what to say. He thought he could have handled it if she had faced him with her usual unwavering optimism but this? This cold and factual tone that she was using that made him want to shiver? This was new to him.

"I've never heard anyone face death with so much to hope for before", he muttered eventually, unwilling to believe her. "After all, to die for love sounds all very grand but you're forgetting that when you can feel life slipping away inch by inch, the last thing you are thinking about is that you're dying for love. Instead, all you can focus on is how much you want to live".

"And you've died before have you?" she replied mockingly.

"I feel like I've died several times over in fact", he replied slowly.

She said nothing to him after that, not for a long time. He wondered if she even knew what to say or if he had finally convinced her that she was wrong.

Instead, Hermione's mind was working furiously to steel her resolve and harden her heart so that she could meet death like a welcome release. She had lost everything. Harry and the Order had granted her the use of Ginny's body without Mr and Mrs Weasley knowing about it and only with Hermione's promise of not bringing Draco back into their midst and agreeing that if she left them then, she was truly on her own.

She had foolishly believed that if she could get Draco out of Malfoy Manor, they could run away but she had known deep down that Draco would never have agreed to such a cowardly act. She hadn't anticipated Voldemort knowing who she was.

Sometimes she wished she could go back to that fateful night in the Burrow and somehow not been captured but she knew that after everything that had happened, she didn't regret anything about it.

About her captivity or about Draco.

What she regretted was the way they had lost Ginny.

Or rather, that Draco had to have been the one to kill her. If it had been anyone else she may have secured the Orders good graces but the day Draco had done it and Hermione had stuck by him, had been the day she had truly lost Harry forever and the knowledge made her sick. In a sense, she had chosen this fate.

"What is going to happen to us?" she whispered after several minutes.

"They are going to take us to Hogwarts to the battle, I'm not sure about after that but I'm assuming they may kill us in front of the order and prompt a reaction but I'm hazy on the particulars", he said quickly, his voice bare of emotion.

"No, I meant...what is going to happen to _us_?" she was crying now, he could hear it in her voice.

"I don't know what you mean?" His no nonsense tone was killing her, still a Malfoy at heart he was unable to show utter weakness and defeat.

"Will we just drift into the past along with everything else or will anyone remember our love without scorn or ridicule?"

Her words made him get to his feet and finally move towards her, slumping down onto the floor and pulling her to him, rubbing her hair in comfort and breathing her scent in.

"No, we will be remembered as the most foolish idiots who ever lived. You on one side and me on the other and we still managed to cross over and ruin the other one's life forever", he smiled despite himself.

"You really believe that?"

"No, I don't believe that but it is the legacy we are leaving behind. What I believe is that ours is the most tragic love story and years from now when parents tell their kids about us, about the fools who fell in love, those kids will realise that it isn't just a cautionary tale. It's the most wonderful story ever and their love must have really been something to be etched onto the memories of everyone who witnessed it".

Hermione wasn't sure if she believed the words Draco was telling her or if he was telling her them to comfort himself but she realised it didn't matter. It was true, no matter what happened they would be remembered and their love would survive even death.

"You're sure we are both going to die?" she whispered, "I don't think I could bear if they only killed one of us. I don't want you to go where I can't follow".

Draco swallowed a thousand thoughts that burst into his mind when she said those words. Perhaps that was Voldemort's ultimate punishment, to only kill one of them and leave the other to suffer alone?

"You remember these words, if you remember nothing else", he said lifting her chin and turning her so she could see his face, "No matter what happens, wherever you go I will follow you there even to death. So don't fear it, they will use that against you, look on death as a release and know that if I'm not there, it is only a brief interlude until I join you again".

She nodded, the tears no longer falling, and leaned in to press her lips lightly against his. Both of them wondering if it would be the last time and knowing that it was.

"Remember what I said to you before", she began quietly, "It's like reading a terrible book and you have to know how it ends and you can't just pack it in because that's called giving up?"

He nodded, remembering her defiant words from so long ago.

"I think I was wrong. I think what I should have said was you should just give up before the book is over, that way it hurts less when things finally have to end", the tears threatened to spill again as she stared up at him.

"You're forgetting what else you said though", he replied smiling slightly, "You can change the ending of your story and that is not nothing, that is something and that something means the difference between their shitty existence and ours. So let's change our ending?"

"What do you mean?"

"Let's choose for ourselves how our story is going to end, let's not let them give us the humiliating ending they want and let us shock everyone with our resolve of finding death as a sweet release", he said staring at her hard.

"That something really is the difference between us and them I suppose", she smiled softly.

"Because we are choosing each other", he answered.

He pulled her to him and kissed her for everything he was worth and everything she meant to him fell into that kiss.

And just then they heard the door squeak open at the far end of the hallway and Draco pulled Hermione to her feet.

"Let's give them an ending to remember, let's make sure we are permanently etched on their minds".

Suddenly, Hermione turned to look at him pure elation written all over her face, "I just thought of something I read in Hogwarts: A History", she was speaking quickly so as to get the words out.

"Now is not the time for a lesson", Draco nearly laughed at how she would never change.

"No, you dolt, there is a way for us to be permanently etched on the minds of everyone at this battle, indeed there is a way for what happened to us to live through history and for us to be living, in a sense, proof", she was so excited Draco wondered could she hear the footsteps growing ever closer.

"We've forgotten about the most powerful wizard Hogwarts has ever seen, the only one Voldemort is afraid of and right now since you failed to kill him he is there; waiting for the battle to commence. All we have to do is obtain his permission and make sure, when the time comes, he is there to perform the necessary enchantments", she was gleeful and impatiently trying to make Draco understand, "I read that it can be done as long as the current headmaster is there to witness it and make it happen, we can become a permanent fixture of Hogwarts itself and best of all we will be together".

"I'm still not getting this", he replied.

"Who resides in Hogwarts apart from students and teachers? Who has a permanent place in the castle that nobody can take away?"

Draco smiled, the penny finally dropping, "Ghosts", he said just as the footsteps halted outside the door and the time to leave had come.

"Ghosts", she whispered in reply, smiling at him.

The door swung open and there stood Bellatrix but it didn't matter to Draco anymore, it seemed there was a way out of everything and suddenly their hope had been rekindled.

After all, how could they have forgotten about Dumbledore?

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	18. Chapter 18

**One more chapter remaining after this and it will be incredibly sad, I'm just warning you but it may not have the ending you are all expecting.**

**Thank you for sticking with this story right through to the end.**

**The end is nigh...its coming. **

**Chapter Eighteen-Finished**

**The same passion in man and woman nonetheless differ in tempo; hence man and woman do not cease misunderstanding one another-Friedrich Nietzsche**

_After all how could they have forgotten about Dumbledore?_

The more the question swirled around Draco's head, the more he realised how idiotically optimistic it was. Even if by some miracle they were able to get away from the Death Eaters in order to find Dumbledore, that didn't mean he would be able to help.

It just meant there was a slim possibility that they might survive this battle. Hermione was watching him, keeping her gaze averted from Bellatrix's presence in the doorway and she saw the bubble of hope that had blossomed in his eye suddenly pop. Her gaze fell slightly but she could see the question on his lips without him even needing to say it aloud.

Surely there was more to becoming a Hogwarts ghost than a simple incantation?

Draco knew that when Potter had had a miniature breakdown after the death of Sirius, he had asked Nearly Headless Nick about becoming a ghost and the answer had been enigmatic. Something about Sirius having gone on; did that then mean that the person wishing to become a ghost had to be unwilling to move on? Had to want to remain behind and not accept death?

Could Draco really bring himself to refuse the sweet release of death? Could he really persuade himself that he wanted to hold onto his sorry excuse for a life and live for eternity trapped as a spirit?

As Bellatrix flicked her wand and motioned Draco and Hermione to move out of the cell and follow her back up the stairway, Draco knew something had happened to make them to decide to go to Hogwarts now. Perhaps the Order was more prepared than Draco had originally thought; it wouldn't be the first time. They were remarkably resilient really, all he had to do was think of the way they had jumped into battle when he had first attacked Dumbledore and allowed the Death Eaters access into the school.

Before he took one step forwards to whatever fate was awaiting him, he glanced back at Hermione and was shocked to see that she was still smiling doubtfully at him but the smile was stunted. His disbelief was etched too clearly on his face for her not to notice that already reservations had begun to cloud his mind. She wasn't about to give up without a fight it seemed, she really was Gryffindor through and through.

Her factual tone that had thrown Draco completely had dissipated quickly and once again, emblazoned on her face, there was that unwavering hope that Draco could never have even begun to understand.

What was it about her that made her so infuriatingly sure that everything would turn out alright? The answer came to him almost immediately; faith in other people.

She had always had Potter and Weasley to look out for her and everything that had gone wrong for St Potter had always righted itself in the end. Now, she was pinning all of her hope on Dumbledore and it made him angry. At the end of it all, when Dumbledore revealed that he could do nothing for them (and Draco was sure that was what would happen) he would be left to deal with the devastating consequences. It would break her spirit.

Draco couldn't help but shake his head, what was wrong with this girl? Then he realised, no matter what had happened in the past he was pure Slytherin; realistic and hard.

He unconsciously clenched and unclenched his fists while walking behind Bellatrix and it wasn't until Hermione fingers lightly brushed his shoulders that he realised she was trying to reassure him.

_'Bit late'_ he thought bitterly resisting the temptation to just shrug out from under her hands.

"I am so disappointed in you Draco", Bellatrix hissed between her teeth without turning around to look at him. "I expected so much more from you".

"Perhaps you shouldn't have expected so much then", he replied angrily the knowledge of what he was going to finally hitting him.

"You are your father's child, cowardice is rife in you; like a disease; it poisons the blood", she whispered for added effect and Draco rolled his eyes.

"If cowardice was rife dearest Aunt, then I would have killed Hermione myself just to save her the pain of all of this. If anything selfishness is rife in me because I refuse to give her up".

"You are turning your back on the family. On the very name of Malfoy". She had stopped walking and turned to him now; bringing Draco to an abrupt halt in front of her. He stared down at her with disgust.

"You all turned your back on me the day you sent me to kill Dumbledore. You all knew I couldn't do it; that I was never really one of you and you let him send me anyway".

"What would you have had us do? Dispute the Dark Lord's wishes?" She stared at him incredulously.

"He was once a man you know, a human being just like you and me. He isn't as invincible as you might think", said Draco quietly.

"He has cheated death!" She screamed at him.

"Has he? As far as I can see, he would have been better off dead. Something is missing here and even you must be able to see that. Voldemort's time is running out even if he didn't die all those years ago he became only a piece of a man; he hasn't been whole since". Draco stopped, the realisation hitting him like a tonne of bricks that he wondered how he couldn't have figured it out before.

"Horcruxes", he whispered turning to Hermione. He waited for her to nod in confirmation before turning back to Bellatrix.

"That's why we are going so soon; to Hogwarts. Potter has found another one and now he is closer to destroying Voldemort for good", he was smiling manically now, wanting to laugh with relief.

It had all been happening too quickly, too suddenly and that had made no sense. Voldemort should have been biding his time; making the order sweat it out with no idea of his arrival but something had hurried his departure and Draco had finally figured out what it was.

"How many are there left?" He asked Hermione who was biting her lip furiously with anxiety.

"I don't know", she whispered. "At a guess, I would imagine two? Maybe?"

"Let's hope he knows the location of the last two then", he turned back to his Aunt, his head still giddy with the fact that he had finally figured it out.

"Draco you know not what you say", Bellatrix was staring at the ground as he spoke and he saw she was unwilling to believe that her Master wasn't invincible but he knew the doubt had already crept into her psychotic mind.

He stared at her long and hard before he spoke; waiting for the hate that he thought he should feel to fill his blood and seep right into his bones. But it didn't. It never came. Instead, he found himself able to say to her with perfect clarity and coherence.

"I pity you Aunt, I truly do. You were my greatest ally but you disappoint me. I thought a true Death Eater was harsh and cold. You are neither; you are just deluded".

With that he reached behind him and took Hermione's hand and pulled her until the two of them walked around Bellatrix and continued up the stairs. He heard his Aunt hiss menacingly as Hermione passed her but they ignored her; she had no power over them now.

Nobody was located in the Foyer when Draco emerged pulling Hermione behind him excepting his father and mother.

They stiffened when he entered upon seeing his hand clasped firmly around Hermione's.

"Where is your Aunt?" said his mother tentatively.

"I didn't kill her if that's what you are thinking", he said mockingly. Bellatrix moved into view behind him and he saw Narcissa's shoulders relax marginally. "No such luck", he finished.

"We are to follow the Dark Lord to Hogwarts where the battle has no doubt commenced", said his father.

"You don't need to fill me in on the details, the ending is going to be the same for us", said Draco shrugging.

His father tensed but his mother took a step towards him, "Why would you do this to us Draco? Why would you choose death over anything else?"

"What else is there?" He replied.

"Us, Draco. We are your family", she gestured behind her to where Lucius and Bellatrix stood.

"I'd rather death than be grouped in the same category as a coward, an evil psychopath and a cold hearted bitch", he said patiently.

"You would rather be branded a traitor?" burst out Lucius suddenly.

Draco turned his gaze towards Lucius's dishevelled appearance; the unkempt hair, tense stature and all round frail physique and realised his father was a mere shadow of the powerful man he had been.

"A traitor", he rolled the word around his tongue, "In order to be a traitor, I think you actually had to belong to something. I never have. I am _not _one of you and what's worse is you always knew it. I wish you had told me, I could have done us all a favour a long time ago".

The cavernous foyer allowed his words, which had been spoken in a raised voice, to echo and reverberate around the room for several seconds. The impact of them hit his parents sharply.

"You are no longer my son, consider yourself an outcast", Lucius stated turning his back.

"Then you have given me the greatest present I could ever have received", replied Draco pulling Hermione closer to him and wrapping his arm around her shoulders dropping a kiss into her hair.

"We must go", said Narcissa pulling up her left sleeve.

Draco too felt his mark begin to burn and knew they were being summoned. Hermione whimpered softly and Draco understood that her mark would be giving her excruciating pain at this moment but bearable due to his proximity.

"It's okay", he whispered.

She looked up at him and nodded. The hope that had been there before had faded slightly under her agony but the look in her eyes told him she had not given up.

He wondered what awaited them at the castle.

What fresh horror would be in store but he knew one thing for certain; something had not gone quite to plan for Voldemort and Potter had remained one step ahead as he was apt to do.

Through the double doors leading into the ballroom; the scene of so much in the past few weeks; Ginny's body had been laid on the stone altar slab, twisted and distorted as it was they had tried to cover her.

A befitting end for a death eater really; she had been the traitor as far as Draco could see. She had started all of this and no pity permeated Draco's heart for her as he clasped Hermione to him while Narcissa grabbed his arm to apparate them to Hogwarts.

But one thing was certain, he envied her the release of death and as the earth moved from under him taking him towards Hogwarts; he realised one thing.

One thing that would change the ending for Hermione and himself.

There was no way he would be able to refuse death like Hermione needed him to do; he wanted to die even if it meant being separated from her. It was selfish, he knew that, but he just couldn't trick himself into thinking that a lifetime on this earth, as a translucent...something, was what he wanted.

He felt as if Hermione had given him no choice; in her unwavering faith she had assumed that he would rather an eternity with her than death but he was tired of people assuming they knew what he wanted.

He had tried to picture it but he could not bring himself to want to hold onto life; death was the only thing he craved now after all this time and that was something that separated him from Hermione.

He would have to tell her; he would have to break it to her that he was tired, he had had enough of this shitty life; he was finished and now he had a perfect way out. This really _was _the end.

Death was a sweet ending; not a sweet beginning and his death would mark the end of their tragic love story.

It had to.

His feet slammed down on the grounds of Hogwarts and he felt her grip tighten on him as spells flew around their heads.

He hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head lightly; breathing in her scent before separating himself from her for the last time.

This was the end.

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